First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Boosts Position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,088 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,523 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $1,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. RFP Financial Group LLC grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 98.3% during the 2nd quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 710 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% in the second quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 716 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% during the second quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 728 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 91.6% during the second quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 868 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 104.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 874 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNQ. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Desjardins upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.50.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 0.5 %

CNQ stock opened at $34.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $71.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 1.50. The business’s 50-day moving average is $34.79 and its 200 day moving average is $35.84. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12-month low of $29.45 and a 12-month high of $41.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $7.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.19 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 18.05% and a return on equity of 22.09%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.388 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is 63.85%.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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).