691,498 Shares in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Acquired by HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 691,498 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,569,000. Cenovus Energy accounts for about 1.3% of HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CVE. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 640.3% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,065 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 2,651 shares in the last quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy in the third quarter worth $162,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in Cenovus Energy by 8.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 8,648 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the second quarter worth about $211,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CVE shares. StockNews.com lowered Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. TD Securities lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.00.

Cenovus Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVE opened at $15.74 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $28.75 billion, a PE ratio of 10.86 and a beta of 2.02. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.69 and a twelve month high of $21.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $16.59 and its 200 day moving average is $18.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.08. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 6.72%. The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.133 per share. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. This is a positive change from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is presently 36.55%.

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.