Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.00.

Several brokerages recently commented on CVE. StockNews.com cut shares of Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Securities lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target 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.

Cenovus Energy Price Performance

Cenovus Energy stock opened at $15.74 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Cenovus Energy has a one year low of $14.69 and a one year high of $21.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 2.05. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $16.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.17.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $10.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.133 dividend. This is a positive change from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.55%.

Institutional Trading of Cenovus Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Smead Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Cenovus Energy by 39.3% in 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 buying an additional 4,351,960 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,472,000. Atria Investments Inc bought a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,482,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,946,000. Finally, M&G Plc grew its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 3,496,370 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $69,013,000 after purchasing an additional 82,840 shares during the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.