Short Interest in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Increases By 67.6%

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 21,610,000 shares, a growth of 67.6% from the February 13th total of 12,890,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,310,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

NYSE CVE opened at $13.49 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $24.58 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.99. 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 of $14.51 and a 200-day moving average of $15.66. Cenovus Energy has a 52-week low of $12.08 and a 52-week high of $21.90.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $11.08 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.1269 dividend. This represents a $0.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 40.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CVE. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 191,412,590 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,901,131,000 after acquiring an additional 26,127,617 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 39.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,416,146 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $257,831,000 after purchasing an additional 4,351,960 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,001,002 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $196,935,000 after purchasing an additional 4,220,663 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 91.7% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 7,233,491 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $109,515,000 after purchasing an additional 3,460,311 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 105.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,337,551 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $65,667,000 after buying an additional 2,221,549 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CVE has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 28th. National Bank Financial cut shares of Cenovus Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Cenovus Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.25.

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.