Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Grows Stock Position in Cenovus Energy Inc $CVE

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) by 440.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,414,179 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after buying an additional 12,564,179 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Cenovus Energy were worth $260,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in Cenovus Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 1,302.7% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,543 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 961.5% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,656 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Cenovus Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 74.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,253 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 1,384 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Cenovus Energy stock opened at $28.24 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market cap of $52.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 0.34. Cenovus Energy Inc has a fifty-two week low of $13.47 and a fifty-two week high of $32.07.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.05. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 9.53%.The firm had revenue of $10.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Cenovus Energy Inc will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is presently 32.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CVE. Weiss Ratings upgraded Cenovus Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a report on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cenovus Energy has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $35.25.

Cenovus Energy 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.