Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Sells 18,518 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY reduced its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,432,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 18,518 shares during the quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $45,793,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $162,575,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 3.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,742,099 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,852,024,000 after acquiring an additional 3,003,542 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 19.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,146,792 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $548,214,000 after purchasing an additional 2,832,155 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 27,359,777 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $855,414,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,939,585 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,505,303,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051,714 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Desjardins cut shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company raised Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.50.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $32.08 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12 month low of $24.65 and a 12 month high of $35.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20 and a beta of 0.69.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $6.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.81 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 14.90%.During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a dividend of $0.5875 per share. This represents a $2.35 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.34%.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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.