Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ Stock: TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Raises Stake

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,459,772 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 223,444 shares during the quarter. Canadian Natural Resources accounts for 2.1% of TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $784,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CNQ. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised 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 worth $1,826,578,000 after acquiring an additional 3,397,500 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources during the 1st quarter valued at $1,411,619,000. Amundi boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 7,994,427 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $389,568,000 after purchasing an additional 217,437 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 26.7% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 7,011,862 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $341,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 49.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 6,565,392 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $320,189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,184,892 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNQ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, August 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, October 9th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CNQ traded up $1.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $53.77. 8,466,538 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,242,058. The stock has a market cap of $110.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $49.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.61. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 1 year low of $29.68 and a 1 year high of $53.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.15. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.78% and a return on equity of 23.91%. The company had revenue of $14.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.40 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 4.10 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a dividend of C$0.62 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

About Canadian Natural Resources

Canadian Natural Resources Limited is an independent crude oil and natural gas exploration, development, production, marketing and transportation company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company produces synthetic crude oil, conventional heavy and light crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas.

Its operations are concentrated in Western Canada and include oil sands mining and upgrading projects in northern Alberta, conventional and heavy-oil assets, and natural gas production.