Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) by 17.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,883 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 6,321 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cenovus Energy were worth $500,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CVE. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the first quarter worth $1,482,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cenovus Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,946,000. M&G Plc raised its position in Cenovus Energy by 2.4% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 3,496,370 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $69,013,000 after purchasing an additional 82,840 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy during the first quarter worth about $733,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 5.9% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 776,070 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,960,000 after buying an additional 43,023 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Cenovus Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE CVE opened at $16.19 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.34. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.69 and a 52 week high of $21.90. The stock has a market cap of $29.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 2.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.08. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The business had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. Cenovus Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.133 dividend. This is a boost from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CVE. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Cenovus Energy from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Securities cut shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.00.

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.