Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities downgraded Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.00.

Cenovus Energy Price Performance

Shares of CVE stock opened at $15.64 on Thursday. Cenovus Energy has a fifty-two week low of $14.69 and a fifty-two week high of $21.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.79 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.59. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.08.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.25 billion. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 6.72%. Cenovus Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy will post 1.48 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.133 dividend. This is a boost from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Smead Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 4,351,960 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $246,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,613,320 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 11,186,227 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $219,897,000 after acquiring an additional 562,663 shares in the last quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP raised its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP now owns 7,500,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $147,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 7,396,013 shares during the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.