Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Given Outperform Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $25.00 price target on the oil and gas company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on CVE. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Scotiabank raised shares of Cenovus Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 28th. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded Cenovus Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

Cenovus Energy Price Performance

Cenovus Energy stock opened at $14.05 on Wednesday. Cenovus Energy has a 1 year low of $12.08 and a 1 year high of $21.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $14.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.37. The company has a market cap of $25.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 1.99.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.27). Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 5.82%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.08 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Cenovus Energy will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.1269 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.50%.

Institutional Trading of Cenovus Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cenovus Energy by 104.9% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 54.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,742 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 1,677 shares during the last quarter. Natixis acquired a new stake in Cenovus Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $98,000. Finally, Black Maple Capital Management LP bought a new position in Cenovus Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $167,000. 51.19% of the stock is 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.