Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.25.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Cenovus Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 28th.

Cenovus Energy Trading Up 1.1 %

CVE opened at $13.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.27 and a beta of 1.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $14.47 and its 200-day moving average is $15.62. Cenovus Energy has a 52-week low of $12.08 and a 52-week high of $21.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.27). The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.08 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 10.73%. Analysts expect that Cenovus Energy will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.1269 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.51 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is 40.50%.

Institutional Trading of Cenovus Energy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 4,494,400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $68,094,000 after acquiring an additional 411,000 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,678,976 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $71,775,000 after acquiring an additional 77,548 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 39.3% during the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,416,146 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $257,831,000 after acquiring an additional 4,351,960 shares during the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy during the third quarter worth about $11,569,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 1,289.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 430,781 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,526,000 after acquiring an additional 399,787 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

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.