Man Group plc Lowers Position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Man Group plc lowered its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 637,193 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 12,501 shares during the period. Man Group plc’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $19,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 92,550,104 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,857,337,000 after buying an additional 7,372,718 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,002,235 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,778,729,000 after buying an additional 456,814 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 44,131,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,362,332,000 after buying an additional 550,242 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 36,963,702 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,139,753,000 after buying an additional 1,844,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 34,052,775 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,051,210,000 after buying an additional 2,312,437 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:CNQ opened at $30.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $64.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 1.04. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 1-year low of $24.65 and a 1-year high of $38.86.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.14 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 20.07%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.4227 dividend. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.51%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 63.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNQ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Tudor Pickering downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

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).