PDS Planning Inc Boosts Stock Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

PDS Planning Inc lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 19.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,278 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,697 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,550,104 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,857,337,000 after purchasing an additional 7,372,718 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,437,771 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $136,994,000 after buying an additional 2,064,492 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 139,203 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,297,000 after buying an additional 11,296 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $267,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 31.6% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 13,433,797 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $414,223,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224,548 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CNQ shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Evercore ISI upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:CNQ opened at $31.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33 and a beta of 1.03. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52-week low of $24.65 and a 52-week high of $37.91.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 20.90% and a net margin of 16.92%. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. Analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.4227 dividend. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.06%.

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).