Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Cut to “Outperform” at Raymond James Financial

Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports.

CVE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research raised Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Scotiabank upgraded Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Veritas raised shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cenovus Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.67.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:CVE opened at $28.40 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $53.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.60 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $25.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.75. Cenovus Energy has a fifty-two week low of $12.88 and a fifty-two week high of $30.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $10.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.47 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 15.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Analysts expect that Cenovus Energy will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVE. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 124,313,513 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,103,090,000 after acquiring an additional 17,730,542 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,525,477 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,074,660,000 after purchasing an additional 7,197,843 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 50,979,140 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $862,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,903,432 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its stake in Cenovus Energy by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 38,533,059 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $651,880,000 after purchasing an additional 11,019,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 46.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 30,643,806 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $520,196,000 after purchasing an additional 9,753,134 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

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.