Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in CVR Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in CVR Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVI) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 170,584 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,910 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of CVR Energy worth $3,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of CVR Energy by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 783,079 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $14,675,000 after buying an additional 143,941 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of CVR Energy by 55.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,052 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CVR Energy by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 13,979 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,953 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in CVR Energy by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 693,234 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,991,000 after purchasing an additional 81,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of CVR Energy by 59.5% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 15,822 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.88% of the company’s stock.

CVR Energy Price Performance

CVR Energy stock opened at $28.94 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.55. CVR Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.10 and a 52 week high of $32.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of -14.69 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.47.

CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.90) by $0.32. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. CVR Energy had a negative return on equity of 12.66% and a negative net margin of 2.68%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that CVR Energy Inc. will post -0.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CVR Energy news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn purchased 7,907 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.21 per share, with a total value of $143,986.47. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 70,418,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,282,320,356.91. This trade represents a 0.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders acquired 177,884 shares of company stock valued at $3,200,627 over the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of CVR Energy from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of CVR Energy from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CVR Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of CVR Energy from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of CVR Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CVR Energy presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $23.80.

About CVR Energy

CVR Energy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the petroleum refining and marketing, and nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing activities in the United States. It operates in two segments, Petroleum and Nitrogen Fertilizer. The Petroleum segment refines and supplies gasoline, crude oil, distillate, diesel fuel, and other refined products.