Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE)

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 14,351 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 142% compared to the typical volume of 5,921 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CVE. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Cenovus Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.67.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVE traded up $0.15 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $16.58. The stock had a trading volume of 5,462,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,026,932. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Cenovus Energy has a 12-month low of $14.69 and a 12-month high of $21.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 2.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.46.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The oil and gas company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $10.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.78 billion. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 16.61% and a net margin of 8.56%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cenovus Energy will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.132 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.18%. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is 29.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 150,534,829 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,508,185,000 after purchasing an additional 7,750,480 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,563,284 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $970,780,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,341 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 42,191,779 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $706,503,000 after purchasing an additional 8,841,374 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in Cenovus Energy by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 37,540,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $750,435,000 after purchasing an additional 8,438,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 216.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,927,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $678,250,000 after purchasing an additional 23,202,018 shares in the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cenovus Energy Company Profile

Cenovus Energy Inc, together with its subsidiaries, develops, produces, refines, transports, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and refined petroleum products in Canada and internationally. The company operates through Oil Sands, Conventional, Offshore, Canadian Refining, and U.S. Refining segments.