Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,883 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 6,321 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cenovus Energy were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CVE. Olympiad Research LP purchased a new position in Cenovus Energy during the third quarter valued at $380,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 8.4% during the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,386,398 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $39,916,000 after purchasing an additional 185,507 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 5.9% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 776,070 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $12,960,000 after purchasing an additional 43,023 shares during the last quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 38.6% in the third quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 80,886 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,353,000 after buying an additional 22,544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in Cenovus Energy by 22.2% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,879 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 2,520 shares during the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

CVE opened at $16.19 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $29.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 2.05. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $16.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.34. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $14.69 and a 1 year high of $21.90.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.5 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 given a $0.133 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. This is a boost from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Securities cut shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Cenovus Energy from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.00.

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.