Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 9,958 Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) by 32.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,386 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,958 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cenovus Energy were worth $561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 91.7% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 7,233,491 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $109,515,000 after buying an additional 3,460,311 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 79.8% during the 4th quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 125,637 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,903,000 after buying an additional 55,780 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,337,551 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $65,667,000 after buying an additional 2,221,549 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,226,155 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $79,176,000 after buying an additional 245,302 shares during the period. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 185.7% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 48,103 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 31,265 shares during the period. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CVE shares. National Bankshares reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy in a report on Friday, April 11th. Veritas lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cenovus Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.00.

Cenovus Energy Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE:CVE opened at $14.07 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $13.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.72. The company has a market capitalization of $25.46 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Cenovus Energy Inc has a 1-year low of $10.23 and a 1-year high of $20.40.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $11.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.39 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 5.22% and a return on equity of 9.56%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Cenovus Energy Inc will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a yield of 4.25%. This is an increase from Cenovus Energy’s previous dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 54.21%.

Cenovus Energy 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.