Short Interest in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Declines By 9.0%

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,040,000 shares, a decrease of 9.0% from the October 15th total of 16,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 7,870,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on CVE. StockNews.com raised Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Cenovus Energy from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Securities lowered Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cenovus Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.00.

Cenovus Energy Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE:CVE traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $15.99. 7,143,656 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,869,408. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $16.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.46. The firm has a market cap of $29.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 2.05. Cenovus Energy has a fifty-two week low of $14.69 and a fifty-two week high of $21.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.08. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 6.72%. The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. Cenovus Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.133 per share. This is a boost from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,563,284 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $970,780,000 after buying an additional 1,008,341 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 29.0% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 37,540,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $750,435,000 after acquiring an additional 8,438,979 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 216.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,927,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $678,250,000 after purchasing an additional 23,202,018 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Cenovus Energy by 39.3% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,416,146 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $257,831,000 after purchasing an additional 4,351,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Cenovus Energy by 81.1% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 12,538,499 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $246,507,000 after purchasing an additional 5,613,320 shares during the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.