Swiss National Bank Reduces Position in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

Swiss National Bank reduced its position in shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,983,135 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 228,100 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.22% of Cenovus Energy worth $60,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CVE. Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Cenovus Energy by 39.3% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,416,146 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $257,831,000 after buying an additional 4,351,960 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,995,000. Anson Funds Management LP lifted its stake in Cenovus Energy by 188.2% during the third quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 1,877,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $31,405,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226,221 shares during the last quarter. Panview Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Cenovus Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,741,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Cenovus Energy by 273.4% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,440,237 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $21,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,054,483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CVE. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Cenovus Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.25.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

CVE opened at $13.49 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.68. The stock has a market cap of $24.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.99. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.08 and a 1-year high of $21.90. 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 (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.08 billion. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 5.82%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.1269 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.51 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is currently 40.50%.

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.