HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 35,443 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 24.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 180,615 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 35,443 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $7,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNQ. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 6.9% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,018 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. AlphaGrep UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $231,000. Syon Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 31,076 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,395 shares during the period. denkapparat Operations GmbH increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 81.6% during the 2nd quarter. denkapparat Operations GmbH now owns 15,800 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 7,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 16,236,328 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $634,507,000 after purchasing an additional 88,990 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

CNQ opened at $50.80 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.12. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a twelve month low of $29.68 and a twelve month high of $52.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $104.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54 and a beta of 0.47.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $14.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.40 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.78% and a return on equity of 23.91%. Equities analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is presently 44.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CNQ. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) is a Canadian independent crude oil and natural gas exploration, development, production, marketing and refining company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company produces a range of energy products, including heavy and light crude oil, synthetic crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids.

CNRL’s operations are concentrated in Western Canada, where it holds significant oil sands, conventional oil and natural gas assets. Its oil sands business includes mining and upgrading operations as well as in situ thermal projects.