HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 56,496 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 59.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 151,806 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 56,496 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $5,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. LOM Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 47.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,644 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on CNQ shares. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $37.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $61.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNQ opened at $45.86 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a twelve month low of $29.30 and a twelve month high of $51.34. The firm has a market cap of $95.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $47.09 and a 200 day moving average of $40.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 23rd will be issued a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is presently 54.63%.

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.