Cypress Capital Group Raises Stock Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited $CNQ

Cypress Capital Group boosted its position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 11.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,283 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,941 shares during the quarter. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $5,277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. LOM Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Canadian Natural Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNQ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Desjardins raised Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Canadian Natural Resources from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Canadian Natural Resources to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock opened at $46.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $96.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.86 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $43.96 and its 200 day moving average is $43.20. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 1 year low of $29.30 and a 1 year high of $51.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a net margin of 22.04% and a return on equity of 17.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were paid a $0.625 dividend. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 23rd. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.03%.

Canadian Natural Resources Profile

Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE: CNQ) is a Calgary-based independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company. Established in the early 1970s and publicly listed in Canada and the United States, the company is principally engaged in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its asset base spans conventional and unconventional reservoirs and includes oil sands mining and in-situ thermal projects, midstream processing and upgrading capacity, and related field operations.

The company’s operations are concentrated in Western Canada, where it develops heavy crude, bitumen from oil sands and conventional light crude and natural gas resources.