Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

CVE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Gerdes Energy Research raised Cenovus Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. UBS Group cut Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Lake Street Capital set a $36.00 price objective on Cenovus Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.00.

Cenovus Energy Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:CVE opened at $32.40 on Friday. Cenovus Energy has a fifty-two week low of $15.63 and a fifty-two week high of $33.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.37. The company has a market cap of $59.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 0.35.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The oil and gas company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.11. The firm had revenue of $14.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.87 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 21.08%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cenovus Energy will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CVE. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 124,313,513 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,103,090,000 after purchasing an additional 17,730,542 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 50,979,140 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $862,505,000 after buying an additional 1,903,432 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 38,533,059 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $651,880,000 after buying an additional 11,019,212 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 111.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,770,723 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $604,107,000 after buying an additional 11,990,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,018,995 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $304,894,000 after buying an additional 855,618 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Cenovus Energy Company Profile

Cenovus Energy Inc is a Canadian integrated energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas, together with downstream refining and marketing activities. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Cenovus operates a mix of oil sands thermal and dilbit assets, conventional oil and gas properties, and owns refining and midstream assets designed to move and process hydrocarbons into finished petroleum products for commercial markets.

The company was originally formed as a spin‑off from Encana Corporation in 2009 and has grown through organic development and strategic acquisitions.