Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) Announces Quarterly Dividend of C$0.20

Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share by the oil and gas company on Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th.

Cenovus Energy has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.3%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. Cenovus Energy has a payout ratio of 54.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Cenovus Energy to earn $1.91 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.57 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.8%.

Cenovus Energy Price Performance

Shares of CVE traded up $0.90 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $23.15. The stock had a trading volume of 14,951,565 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,349,711. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.97 and a beta of 0.48. Cenovus Energy has a 52 week low of $10.23 and a 52 week high of $23.24. The company’s fifty day moving average is $18.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.46.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The oil and gas company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.08. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 10.73%. The company had revenue of $9.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.07 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CVE shares. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Scotiabank cut Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Cenovus Energy from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.33.

Cenovus Energy Company Profile

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.