Investors Purchase High Volume of Cenovus Energy Call Options (NYSE:CVE)

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 14,351 call options on the company. This is an increase of 142% compared to the typical volume of 5,921 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Cenovus Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 71.4% in the 1st quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 2,400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 124.2% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,558 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417 shares during the period. American National Bank bought a new position in Cenovus Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares during the period. 51.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cenovus Energy Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of CVE stock opened at $16.71 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $18.75 and its 200-day moving average is $19.46. The stock has a market cap of $31.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.28 and a beta of 2.05. Cenovus Energy has a 52-week low of $14.69 and a 52-week high of $21.90.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $10.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.78 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 16.61%. Sell-side analysts predict that Cenovus Energy will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.132 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is 29.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Cenovus Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Raymond James raised shares of Cenovus Energy to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $30.67.

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.