Short Interest in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Drops By 11.6%

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) was the target of a large decline in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,260,000 shares, a decline of 11.6% from the July 15th total of 17,270,000 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 6,770,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Cenovus Energy Stock Down 0.6 %

CVE stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $19.50. The company had a trading volume of 5,007,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,174,384. The company has a market capitalization of $36.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 2.07. Cenovus Energy has a 52 week low of $14.69 and a 52 week high of $21.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.132 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on CVE shares. StockNews.com downgraded Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James raised shares of Cenovus Energy to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $30.67.

Institutional Trading of Cenovus Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Cenovus Energy by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 150,534,829 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,508,185,000 after buying an additional 7,750,480 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,563,284 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $970,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,341 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 42,191,779 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $706,503,000 after purchasing an additional 8,841,374 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 29.0% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 37,540,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $750,435,000 after purchasing an additional 8,438,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 216.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,927,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $678,250,000 after acquiring an additional 23,202,018 shares during the period. 51.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Cenovus Energy

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.