Creative Planning Grows Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Creative Planning raised its position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 15.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 92,067 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,570 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $3,058,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 0.9% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 21,774 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Cloverfields Capital Group LP grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 0.8% in the first quarter. Cloverfields Capital Group LP now owns 32,017 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,444,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 1.1% in the first quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 29,908 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,282,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. RFP Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 98.3% in the second quarter. RFP Financial Group LLC now owns 710 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 100.0% in the second quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 716 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Desjardins upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.50.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $35.55 on Friday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 1 year low of $29.45 and a 1 year high of $41.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.02. The company has a market capitalization of $75.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.26. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 18.05% and a return on equity of 22.09%. The company had revenue of $7.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.388 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.37%. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.14%.

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).