Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on CVE. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Cenovus Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.00.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

CVE opened at $18.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.73. Cenovus Energy has a 52-week low of $10.23 and a 52-week high of $19.00. The firm has a market cap of $35.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s fifty day moving average is $17.47 and its 200-day moving average is $16.69.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $10.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.51 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 10.73%. Cenovus Energy’s revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Cenovus Energy will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.72%.

Institutional Trading of Cenovus Energy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CVE. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in Cenovus Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 104.3% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,288 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,168 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 74.1% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,253 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy during the third quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,307 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

About Cenovus Energy

Cenovus Energy Inc is a Canadian integrated energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas, together with downstream refining and marketing activities. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Cenovus operates a mix of oil sands thermal and dilbit assets, conventional oil and gas properties, and owns refining and midstream assets designed to move and process hydrocarbons into finished petroleum products for commercial markets.

The company was originally formed as a spin‑off from Encana Corporation in 2009 and has grown through organic development and strategic acquisitions.