Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $17.53, but opened at $16.92. Cenovus Energy shares last traded at $16.0830, with a volume of 10,313,441 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on CVE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Friday. They set a “buy” rating and a $20.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Cenovus Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $27.00.

Cenovus Energy Stock Down 5.3%

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $31.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 0.49.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.12. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 6.23%.The business had revenue of $10.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy Inc will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is 46.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 291.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 106,582,971 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,809,758,000 after acquiring an additional 79,345,506 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Cenovus Energy by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,327,634 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $956,387,000 after purchasing an additional 354,241 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 46.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 30,643,806 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $520,196,000 after buying an additional 9,753,134 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 26,845,367 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $365,097,000 after buying an additional 606,042 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Cenovus Energy by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,552,075 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $238,999,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056,163 shares during the period. 51.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cenovus Energy

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.