Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Lifted 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 released on Friday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Cenovus Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group upgraded Cenovus Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cenovus Energy has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $26.67.

Cenovus Energy Price Performance

Shares of CVE stock opened at $20.68 on Friday. Cenovus Energy has a 52-week low of $14.69 and a 52-week high of $21.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 2.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.02.

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

Cenovus Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.0981 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.69%. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is currently 22.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CVE. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Cenovus Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $205,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 13.2% in the first 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. raised its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 4.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new stake in Cenovus Energy in the first quarter valued at $680,000. Finally, Hartree Partners LP raised its stake in Cenovus Energy by 993.0% in the first quarter. Hartree Partners LP now owns 624,651 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,487,000 after buying an additional 567,500 shares in the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cenovus Energy Company Profile

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.