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

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $29.25.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CVE shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 28th. National Bank Financial cut shares of Cenovus Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Cenovus Energy from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Cenovus Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in Cenovus Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 104.9% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Natixis acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $98,000. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CVE opened at $14.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.59. Cenovus Energy has a 1 year low of $13.76 and a 1 year high of $21.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 1.99. The company’s fifty day moving average is $14.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.29.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.27). Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 5.82%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.08 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cenovus Energy will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.1269 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.51 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.15%.

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.