Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 69,041 Shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 87.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,599 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 69,041 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 51.0% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,271 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,205 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 81,954 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,530,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 11,993 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 30,132 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $930,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:CNQ opened at $30.69 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 1 year low of $24.65 and a 1 year high of $38.86. The company has a market cap of $64.28 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 1.04. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $29.30 and its 200 day moving average is $30.69.

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

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.4227 per share. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This is an increase from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 63.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Canadian Natural Resources 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).