Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.25.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CVE shares. Veritas upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong sell” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Lake Street Capital set a $36.00 price target on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th.

Institutional Trading of Cenovus Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 17,730,542 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Cenovus Energy by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 63,525,477 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,074,660,000 after purchasing an additional 7,197,843 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Cenovus Energy by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 50,979,140 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $862,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,903,432 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its stake in Cenovus Energy by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 38,533,059 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $651,880,000 after purchasing an additional 11,019,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Cenovus Energy by 46.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 9,753,134 shares in the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVE opened at $28.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $52.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.57 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Cenovus Energy has a fifty-two week low of $13.29 and a fifty-two week high of $32.07.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 15.29%. Cenovus Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.42%.

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.