Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group raised Cenovus Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Cenovus Energy in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Cenovus Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $26.67.

Cenovus Energy Trading Down 0.4 %

CVE stock traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $20.49. 8,227,200 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,314,023. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.07. Cenovus Energy has a 1-year low of $14.69 and a 1-year high of $21.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.22 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 2.10.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $9.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.73 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 16.53%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cenovus Energy will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.0981 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.74%. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is 22.78%.

Institutional Trading of Cenovus Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CVE. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 44,901 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,233 shares in the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 4.6% during the first quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 18,881 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $680,000. Hartree Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 993.0% in the 1st quarter. Hartree Partners LP now owns 624,651 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,487,000 after purchasing an additional 567,500 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. bought a new position in Cenovus Energy during the first quarter worth about $356,000. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cenovus Energy

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.