Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Upgraded at Zacks Research

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

CVE has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Cenovus Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Cenovus Energy from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $29.67.

Cenovus Energy Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:CVE opened at $26.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $49.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.20 and a beta of 0.34. Cenovus Energy has a 52-week low of $11.60 and a 52-week high of $27.65. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.57.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.89 billion. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 13.25% and a net margin of 7.92%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy will post 2.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.56%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 29.1% in the third quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 484,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $8,216,000 after acquiring an additional 109,000 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $102,662,000. Ninepoint Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 490.0% in the third quarter. Ninepoint Partners LP now owns 3,540,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $60,145,000 after acquiring an additional 2,940,000 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 69.6% in the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,655,878 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $62,081,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 17,935,599 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $303,470,000 after acquiring an additional 3,507,525 shares in the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.