Cenovus Energy (TSE:CVE) Rating Increased to Moderate Buy at Desjardins

Desjardins upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy (TSE:CVE) (NYSE:CVE) to a moderate buy rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on CVE. National Bank Financial raised their target price on shares of Cenovus Energy from C$30.00 to C$57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Cenovus Energy from C$36.00 to C$41.00 in a report on Thursday, April 9th. TD increased their target price on Cenovus Energy from C$35.00 to C$45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Scotiabank upgraded Cenovus Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Scotia boosted their target price on shares of Cenovus Energy from C$38.00 to C$44.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cenovus Energy currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of C$41.40.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Cenovus Energy stock opened at C$39.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of C$73.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.09 and a beta of 0.17. The company’s 50-day moving average is C$38.47 and its 200 day moving average is C$33.65. Cenovus Energy has a 1-year low of C$19.05 and a 1-year high of C$44.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 42.29, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Cenovus Energy (TSE:CVE) (NYSE:CVE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 9.52%.The firm had revenue of C$12.36 billion during the quarter. Research analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy will post 2.2619279 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.87%.

Insider Activity

In other Cenovus Energy news, insider Susan Mary Anderson-Olney sold 19,379 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.84, for a total transaction of C$810,817.36. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 33,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,392,226. This trade represents a 36.80% decrease in their position. Also, insider Jonathan Michael Mckenzie sold 69,387 shares of Cenovus Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$39.51, for a total value of C$2,741,480.37. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,143,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$45,192,486.24. The trade was a 5.72% decrease in their position. Insiders have sold a total of 225,897 shares of company stock worth $8,990,614 over the last ninety days. 32.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Cenovus Energy

Cenovus Energy is an integrated oil company, focused on creating value through the development of its oil sands assets. The company also engages in production of conventional crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas in Alberta, Canada, with refining operations in the U.S. Net upstream production averaged 472 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2020, and the company estimates that it holds 6.7 billion boe of proven and probable reserves.