Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) Shares Sold by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management lessened its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 47.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 45,464 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 41,589 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $2,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CNQ. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the 3rd quarter valued at about $494,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 52.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,559 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $165,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 5.0% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 40,333 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,619,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 238.1% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 1,136 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 3rd quarter worth $230,000. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CNQ shares. Desjardins cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from $101.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:CNQ traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $77.34. 2,580,384 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,327,672. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $73.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.62. The firm has a market cap of $82.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 1.54. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a fifty-two week low of $52.66 and a fifty-two week high of $82.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $7.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.73 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 21.74% and a net margin of 20.15%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.774 dividend. This represents a $3.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 53.25%.

Canadian Natural Resources Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited acquires, explores for, develops, produces, markets, and sells crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company offers light and medium crude oil, primary heavy crude oil, Pelican Lake heavy crude oil, bitumen (thermal oil), and synthetic crude oil (SCO).