Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Reaches New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $18.00 to $16.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Cenovus Energy traded as low as $11.64 and last traded at $11.78, with a volume of 12458650 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.12.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised Cenovus Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cenovus Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $25.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CVE. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 104.9% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in Cenovus Energy during the first quarter valued at $38,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 1,165.1% in the 1st quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 2,808 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,742 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 1,677 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Cenovus Energy Trading Up 1.9 %

The stock has a market cap of $21.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.91 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $12.71 and its 200 day moving average is $14.52.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.08 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 10.73%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.1269 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.50%.

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.