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

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

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group cut shares of Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Desjardins raised Cenovus Energy to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cenovus Energy presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.00.

Cenovus Energy Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of NYSE:CVE opened at $31.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.69. Cenovus Energy has a 52-week low of $15.63 and a 52-week high of $34.16.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The oil and gas company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 12.37%.The business had revenue of $14.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 47.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Cenovus Energy will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a C$0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 990.9% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,080 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the period. Core Capital Management & Research inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $496,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 46,542 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after buying an additional 4,611 shares in the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Cenovus Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $14,630,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 27,930 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 2,109 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Cenovus Energy

Here are the key news stories impacting Cenovus Energy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cenovus agreed to acquire Athabasca Oil in a transaction with an implied enterprise value of approximately C$5.7 billion (about US$4 billion). The deal would expand Cenovus’s oil-sands operations and could provide greater production scale and operating efficiencies. Reuters acquisition report
• Neutral Sentiment: The acquisition will be funded with both cash and Cenovus shares. While the structure limits reliance on debt, investors are evaluating the purchase price, potential shareholder dilution, integration risks and whether the additional assets will generate sufficient returns. Cenovus official acquisition announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Options-market activity has drawn attention, with investors watching for signs of a potential volatility increase in CVE. The report does not establish a definitive bullish or bearish signal. Zacks options-market analysis
• Negative Sentiment: The immediate market reaction has been negative, likely reflecting concerns about the size of the Athabasca purchase, execution and financing risks, and the possibility that near-term benefits will not offset the transaction’s cost. Yahoo Finance market reaction

About Cenovus Energy

Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) is an integrated Canadian energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids, with a significant focus on oil sands operations in Alberta. Its upstream activities include oil sands mining and in situ production, conventional oil and gas production, and the upgrading of heavy crude into synthetic crude oil.

Cenovus also operates in the downstream energy sector through crude oil refining, petroleum upgrading, marketing and distribution.