84,392 Shares in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Acquired by Capital Investment Counsel LLC

Capital Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 84,392 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $4,112,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNQ. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the third quarter valued at $32,000. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNQ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. ATB Cormark Capital Markets lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued 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 Trading Down 0.3%

CNQ stock opened at $39.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $45.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.99. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a fifty-two week low of $29.30 and a fifty-two week high of $51.34. The firm has a market cap of $81.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.11. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The company had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.03%.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE: CNQ) is a Calgary-based independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Established in the early 1970s and publicly listed in Canada and the United States, the company is principally engaged in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its asset base spans conventional and unconventional reservoirs and includes oil sands mining and in-situ thermal projects, midstream processing and upgrading capacity, and related field operations.

The company’s operations are concentrated in Western Canada, where it develops heavy crude, bitumen from oil sands and conventional light crude and natural gas resources.