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

Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.25.

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

Cenovus Energy Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Cenovus Energy stock opened at $13.25 on Thursday. Cenovus Energy has a 1-year low of $12.07 and a 1-year high of $21.90. 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 $24.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 1.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.76.

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

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.1269 dividend. This represents a $0.51 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is presently 40.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 10.1% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $257,831,000 after acquiring an additional 4,351,960 shares in the last quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Cenovus Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $11,569,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 399,787 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its position in 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 buying an additional 77,548 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.