Cypress Capital Group Purchases New Stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Cypress Capital Group acquired a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 93,500 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,936,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 240.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 22,776,594 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $701,519,000 after acquiring an additional 16,094,168 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 86.6% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 24,262,707 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $746,675,000 after purchasing an additional 11,259,267 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 29.1% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 43,968,120 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,354,219,000 after purchasing an additional 9,915,345 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Canadian Natural Resources by 13.0% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 41,769,153 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,285,464,000 after purchasing an additional 4,805,451 shares during the period. Finally, Canoe Financial LP increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 403.7% in the first quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 4,738,577 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $145,828,000 after buying an additional 3,797,846 shares during the last quarter. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CNQ shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. National Bankshares reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $62.00 target price on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian Natural Resources presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of CNQ opened at $31.43 on Monday. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 52-week low of $24.65 and a 52-week high of $37.91. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 0.97.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.07. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 19.67% and a net margin of 19.00%.The firm had revenue of $6.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 19th were issued a $0.4269 dividend. This represents a $1.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 19th. This is a positive change from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is 60.64%.

About Canadian Natural Resources

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).