Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Stock: Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. Trims Position

Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,326,804 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 567,901 shares during the period. Canadian Natural Resources accounts for about 2.4% of Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. owned 0.31% of Canadian Natural Resources worth $298,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 37,457,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,826,578,000 after purchasing an additional 3,397,500 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources in the first quarter valued at about $1,411,619,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 1.4% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 16,459,772 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $784,278,000 after purchasing an additional 223,444 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 2.8% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 7,994,427 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $389,568,000 after purchasing an additional 217,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 26.7% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 7,011,862 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $341,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475,500 shares in the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of CNQ opened at $48.04 on Tuesday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52 week low of $30.13 and a 52 week high of $56.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $98.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $50.80 and a 200-day moving average of $46.33.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.13. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.78% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The firm had revenue of $8.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.79 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.10 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of C$0.62 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 15th. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is 36.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Raymond James Financial lowered Canadian Natural Resources from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Zacks Research upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Company Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited is an independent energy company engaged in the exploration, development, production and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its operations span several resource types and production methods, including oil sands mining and upgrading, thermal in situ projects, conventional oil and gas production, and offshore assets.

The company’s principal operating areas are in Western Canada, the United Kingdom’s North Sea and offshore Africa.