Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 15,398 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 482,577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 15,398 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $22,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 37,457,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,826,578,000 after acquiring an additional 3,397,500 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the first quarter valued at $1,411,619,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 1.4% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 16,459,772 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $784,278,000 after buying an additional 223,444 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,994,427 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $389,568,000 after buying an additional 217,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 26.7% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 7,011,862 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $341,546,000 after buying an additional 1,475,500 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Desjardins upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Monday, October 19th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

NYSE CNQ opened at $48.93 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a fifty-two week low of $30.13 and a fifty-two week high of $56.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $50.70 and a 200-day moving average of $46.46. The stock has a market cap of $100.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 0.45.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $8.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.79 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 25.24%. As a group, analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be issued a C$0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 15th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 36.48%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its operations span several resource types and production methods, including oil sands mining and upgrading, thermal in situ projects, conventional oil and gas production, and offshore assets. The company’s principal operating areas are in Western Canada, the United Kingdom’s North Sea and offshore Africa. Its products include light and heavy crude oil, bitumen, synthetic crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.