Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

CVE has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Lake Street Capital set a $36.00 price target on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Cenovus Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Cenovus Energy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $35.25.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CVE opened at $28.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $52.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.39 and a 200 day moving average of $24.91. Cenovus Energy has a 12 month low of $14.48 and a 12 month high of $32.07.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $10.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.47 billion. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 9.53%.The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is currently 35.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cenovus Energy by 1,302.7% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,543 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,433 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. grew its stake in Cenovus Energy by 961.5% in the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,656 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Cenovus Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Cenovus Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Cenovus Energy Company Profile

Cenovus Energy Inc is a Canadian integrated energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas, together with downstream refining and marketing activities. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Cenovus operates a mix of oil sands thermal and dilbit assets, conventional oil and gas properties, and owns refining and midstream assets designed to move and process hydrocarbons into finished petroleum products for commercial markets.

The company was originally formed as a spin?off from Encana Corporation in 2009 and has grown through organic development and strategic acquisitions.