Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. reduced its stake in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 10.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 440,396 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 49,622 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $14,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ted Buchan & Co raised its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ted Buchan & Co now owns 20,483 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $680,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 80.7% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,322 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 2,824 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Canadian Natural Resources by 6.3% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 150,709 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,005,000 after purchasing an additional 8,870 shares during the last quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC boosted its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 3.7% during the third quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 90,980 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,021,000 after buying an additional 3,221 shares during the period. Finally, Olympiad Research LP boosted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 26.0% in the third quarter. Olympiad Research LP now owns 19,320 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $642,000 after purchasing an additional 3,990 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNQ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Desjardins raised shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.00.

Canadian Natural Resources Price Performance

NYSE CNQ traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $34.17. 4,259,723 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,835,575. The stock has a market cap of $72.22 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.51 and a 200-day moving average of $35.67. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a one year low of $29.45 and a one year high of $41.29.

Canadian Natural Resources (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.30. Canadian Natural Resources had a return on equity of 20.07% and a net margin of 18.45%. The company had revenue of $7.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Canadian Natural Resources Limited will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given 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 4.54%. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Canadian Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is 60.58%.

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).