Short Interest in Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) Declines By 39.0%

Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 28,673,616 shares, a drop of 39.0% from the June 15th total of 47,034,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 8,642,637 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Cenovus Energy stock traded up $0.61 during trading on Friday, reaching $27.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,065,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,731,790. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.33. Cenovus Energy has a 52 week low of $13.98 and a 52 week high of $32.07. The firm has a market cap of $51.81 billion, a PE ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 0.34.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $10.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.47 billion. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 9.53%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CVE. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research lowered Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Cenovus Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 74.1% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,253 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,384 shares during the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.