Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $4.73 Million Stock Holdings in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its position in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 283,730 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 55,772 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Cenovus Energy were worth $4,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 5.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 11,947 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in Cenovus Energy by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 304,303 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,365,000 after purchasing an additional 24,160 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Cenovus Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $706,000. Advisor Partners II LLC increased its stake in Cenovus Energy by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 68,777 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,432,000 after purchasing an additional 4,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its stake in Cenovus Energy by 315.6% during the 3rd quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 187,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,893,000 after purchasing an additional 142,000 shares in the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Cenovus Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.67.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

CVE traded up $0.19 during trading on Monday, hitting $20.68. 6,533,503 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,173,402. The firm has a market cap of $38.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 2.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $19.74 and its 200 day moving average is $18.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a one year low of $14.69 and a one year high of $21.90.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $9.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.