Cenovus Energy (TSE:CVE) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSE:CVE) (NYSE:CVE) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$44.16 and last traded at C$44.13, with a volume of 1701712 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$43.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on CVE shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Cenovus Energy from C$47.00 to C$51.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. TD lifted their price objective on Cenovus Energy from C$46.00 to C$49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Gerdes Energy Research upgraded Cenovus Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Desjardins set a C$50.00 target price on Cenovus Energy and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Cenovus Energy from C$45.00 to C$51.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$43.73.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of C$83.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56, a PEG ratio of 0.09 and a beta of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average is C$38.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$36.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 34.01, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Cenovus Energy (TSE:CVE) (NYSE:CVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported C$1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$17.43 billion during the quarter. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 21.02%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 2.2619279 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This is a boost from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is currently 22.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Alex Pourbaix sold 432,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$42.05, for a total transaction of C$18,196,338.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,455,996 shares in the company, valued at C$61,224,631.80. This trade represents a 22.91% decrease in their position. Also, insider Jonathan Michael Mckenzie sold 104,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$43.49, for a total value of C$4,565,319.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 843,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$36,697,905.76. This represents a 11.06% decrease in their position. Over the last three months, insiders sold 637,278 shares of company stock valued at $26,776,082. 32.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cenovus Energy Company Profile

Cenovus Energy is an integrated oil company, focused on creating value through the development of its oil sands assets. The company also engages in production of conventional crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas in Alberta, Canada, with refining operations in the U.S. Net upstream production averaged 472 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2020, and the company estimates that it holds 6.7 billion boe of proven and probable reserves.