Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

CVE has been the subject of several other research reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Desjardins raised shares of Cenovus Energy to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.00.

Cenovus Energy Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:CVE opened at $33.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $60.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72 and a beta of 0.35. Cenovus Energy has a 52-week low of $15.63 and a 52-week high of $34.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $30.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The oil and gas company reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11. The company had revenue of $14.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.87 billion. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 12.37%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 24.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Cenovus Energy by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 124,313,513 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,103,090,000 after buying an additional 17,730,542 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 50,979,140 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $862,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,903,432 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 38,533,059 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $651,880,000 after acquiring an additional 11,019,212 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 111.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,770,723 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $604,107,000 after acquiring an additional 11,990,405 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,018,995 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $304,894,000 after purchasing an additional 855,618 shares in the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cenovus Energy

Cenovus Energy Inc is an integrated Canadian energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company explores for, develops, produces and markets crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids, with a significant focus on oil sands projects in Alberta. Its upstream operations include oil sands mining and in situ production, conventional oil and natural gas assets, and offshore production interests in the Atlantic region.

Cenovus also operates downstream businesses that upgrade, refine and market petroleum products.