Cenovus Energy (TSE:CVE) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSE:CVE) (NYSE:CVE) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$46.01 and last traded at C$45.98, with a volume of 2404604 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$44.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lowered Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Cenovus Energy from C$47.00 to C$51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Cenovus Energy from C$49.00 to C$51.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Gerdes Energy Research raised shares of Cenovus Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, TD boosted their price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy from C$46.00 to C$49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of C$44.44.

Cenovus Energy Trading Down 0.3%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of C$40.44 and a 200-day moving average price of C$37.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 34.01. The firm has a market capitalization of C$83.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 0.09 and a beta of 0.16.

Cenovus Energy (TSE:CVE) (NYSE:CVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported C$1.53 earnings per share for the quarter. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 21.02%. The firm had revenue of C$17.43 billion for the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 2.2619279 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Alex Pourbaix sold 432,731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$42.05, for a total transaction of C$18,196,338.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,455,996 shares in the company, valued at C$61,224,631.80. This trade represents a 22.91% decrease in their position. Also, insider Jonathan Michael Mckenzie sold 104,974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$43.49, for a total value of C$4,565,319.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 843,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$36,697,905.76. This represents a 11.06% decrease in their position. Insiders sold a total of 601,524 shares of company stock worth $25,546,211 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 32.03% of the company’s stock.

About Cenovus Energy

Cenovus Energy is an integrated oil company, focused on creating value through the development of its oil sands assets. The company also engages in production of conventional crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas in Alberta, Canada, with refining operations in the U.S. Net upstream production averaged 472 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2020, and the company estimates that it holds 6.7 billion boe of proven and probable reserves.