Blue Whale Capital LLP Raises Stock Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Blue Whale Capital LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 135.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 365,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 210,000 shares during the quarter. Canadian Natural Resources accounts for approximately 3.3% of Blue Whale Capital LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Blue Whale Capital LLP’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $20,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 30.3% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 13,128 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $814,000 after buying an additional 3,055 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian Natural Resources in the first quarter worth approximately $403,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 26.0% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,727 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,036,000 after buying an additional 3,448 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 31.5% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 896,093 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $55,540,000 after buying an additional 214,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 2.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,432 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $523,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. CIBC boosted their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Canadian Natural Resources from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Canadian Natural Resources from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Natural Resources currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.50.

Canadian Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of Canadian Natural Resources stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $64.95. 5,123,384 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,894,300. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 1 year low of $44.45 and a 1 year high of $66.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.76.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $5.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.44 billion. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 18.14%. As a group, analysts forecast that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a $0.6744 dividend. This represents a $2.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.06%.

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).