BMO Capital Markets Has Lowered Expectations for Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Stock Price

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) had its target price cut by BMO Capital Markets from $31.00 to $28.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. TD Securities lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Cenovus Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cenovus Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CVE stock opened at $16.21 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.20 and a 200 day moving average of $18.85. Cenovus Energy has a 52 week low of $14.69 and a 52 week high of $21.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.18 and a beta of 2.05.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.08. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 12.87%. The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Cenovus Energy will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.133 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is currently 36.55%.

Institutional Trading of Cenovus Energy

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CVE. Capital International Investors increased 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 worth $678,250,000 after acquiring an additional 23,202,018 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in Cenovus Energy by 29.0% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 37,540,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $750,435,000 after buying an additional 8,438,979 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 22,396.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 7,429,036 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $146,054,000 after purchasing an additional 7,396,013 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 81.1% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 12,538,499 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $246,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,613,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in Cenovus Energy by 32,791.8% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,440,391 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $87,246,000 after purchasing an additional 4,426,891 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

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.