Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE)

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $28.00 price target on the oil and gas company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 79.49% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Cenovus Energy from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Securities downgraded Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cenovus Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

Cenovus Energy Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of CVE opened at $15.60 on Monday. Cenovus Energy has a 12 month low of $14.20 and a 12 month high of $21.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $15.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $28.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.76 and a beta of 2.01.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.08. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. Cenovus Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Smead Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 39.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,416,146 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $257,831,000 after purchasing an additional 4,351,960 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy during the third quarter worth about $11,569,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,472,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Cenovus Energy by 44.1% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,284,600 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $21,491,000 after purchasing an additional 393,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Cenovus Energy by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,653,192 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $61,163,000 after purchasing an additional 369,021 shares during the period. 51.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Cenovus Energy

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.