Guardian Partners Inc. Invests $924,000 in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 60,291 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $924,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVE. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 46.6% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 110,440 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,848,000 after buying an additional 35,105 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 1.6% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 76,940 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $11,324,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,980,853 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $83,330,000 after purchasing an additional 952,477 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $491,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Cenovus Energy Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE CVE opened at $14.17 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $14.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.52. The company has a market capitalization of $25.82 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.99. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $12.08 and a 12-month high of $21.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last posted its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.08 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 10.73%. Equities analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.1269 per share. This represents a $0.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is currently 40.50%.

About Cenovus Energy

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.