Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

CVE has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Securities cut Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets cut 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cenovus Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.00.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

NYSE CVE opened at $15.99 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $29.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 2.05. Cenovus Energy has a fifty-two week low of $14.69 and a fifty-two week high of $21.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.74 and a 200-day moving average of $18.46.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.25 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Cenovus Energy will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. This is a boost from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 36.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVE. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 640.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,065 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 2,651 shares during the period. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Cenovus Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $162,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 643 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy during the first quarter worth $205,000. 51.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.