Whittier Trust Co. Increases Stock Holdings in Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ)

Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE:CNQ) (TSE:CNQ) by 65.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 42,482 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 16,746 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Canadian Natural Resources were worth $1,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 44,131,266 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,362,332,000 after acquiring an additional 550,242 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in Canadian Natural Resources by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 28,468,127 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $945,965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,478 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 24,109,432 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $746,025,000 after buying an additional 1,270,945 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 13,433,797 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $414,223,000 after buying an additional 3,224,548 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian Natural Resources by 8.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,768,297 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $328,807,000 after buying an additional 727,798 shares during the period. 74.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian Natural Resources Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CNQ opened at $30.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Canadian Natural Resources Limited has a 12-month low of $25.62 and a 12-month high of $41.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of $30.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.24. The company has a market capitalization of $63.70 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78 and a beta of 1.48.

Canadian Natural Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $0.4117 dividend. This is a boost from Canadian Natural Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.65 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. Canadian Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 77.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNQ has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Tudor Pickering lowered Canadian Natural Resources from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Canadian Natural Resources in a report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Canadian Natural Resources from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Canadian Natural Resources from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.00.

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).