Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.00.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Cenovus Energy from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CVE. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 640.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,065 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,651 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 8.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 8,648 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the period. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the third quarter valued at $162,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Cenovus Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $211,000. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cenovus Energy Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE CVE opened at $15.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $28.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Cenovus Energy has a 12-month low of $14.69 and a 12-month high of $21.90. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.84 and a 200 day moving average of $18.60.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.08. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 6.72%. The business had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cenovus Energy will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.133 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. This is a boost from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.55%.

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.