Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.75.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Veritas lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. National Bank Financial lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th.

Cenovus Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVE opened at $14.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.46. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $13.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.86. Cenovus Energy has a fifty-two week low of $10.23 and a fifty-two week high of $20.76. The firm has a market cap of $26.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68 and a beta of 0.94.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.03. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 5.22% and a return on equity of 9.56%. The firm had revenue of $11.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cenovus Energy will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This is a positive change from Cenovus Energy’s previous dividend of $0.11. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 16.7% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 267,833 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,722,000 after acquiring an additional 38,363 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 65,385 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $910,000 after acquiring an additional 4,283 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 2,719.3% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,141,434 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $57,533,000 after acquiring an additional 3,994,539 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 747,472 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $10,397,000 after acquiring an additional 44,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yaupon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Cenovus Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $19,735,000. Institutional investors own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

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.