Cenovus Energy’s (CVE) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their outperform rating on shares of Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $25.00 price objective on the oil and gas company’s stock.

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

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Cenovus Energy stock opened at $14.05 on Wednesday. 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 has a 12 month low of $12.08 and a 12 month high of $21.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $14.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.37. The company has a market cap of $25.61 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 1.99.

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

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Cenovus Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Amundi raised its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,678,976 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $71,775,000 after purchasing an additional 77,548 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 4,494,400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $68,094,000 after buying an additional 411,000 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 1,289.9% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 430,781 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,526,000 after buying an additional 399,787 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Cenovus Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,649,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments grew its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 66.5% during the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 131,460 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,992,000 after acquiring an additional 52,508 shares during the period. 51.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.