Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CVE. UBS Group upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $26.67.

Cenovus Energy Price Performance

NYSE CVE opened at $20.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.02. The company has a market cap of $38.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 2.10. Cenovus Energy has a 1 year low of $14.69 and a 1 year high of $21.90.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $9.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.73 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 16.53%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cenovus Energy will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.0981 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.69%. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 22.78%.

Institutional Trading of Cenovus Energy

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 22,453 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $467,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 1.6% during the third quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,350 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $819,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the period. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 1.1% during the third quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 57,715 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,205,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 17.6% during the first quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 80.3% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,453 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cenovus Energy Company Profile

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.