Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Upgraded at Gerdes Energy Research

Gerdes Energy Research upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday,BayStreet reports. They currently have $50.00 price objective on the oil and gas company’s stock.

CVE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. UBS Group lowered Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Zacks Research cut shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cenovus Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.00.

Cenovus Energy Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:CVE opened at $32.40 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $29.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.26. Cenovus Energy has a 12-month low of $15.63 and a 12-month high of $33.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The oil and gas company reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.11. The firm had revenue of $14.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.87 billion. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 12.37%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 47.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CVE. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 124,313,513 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,103,090,000 after acquiring an additional 17,730,542 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Cenovus Energy in the second quarter valued at $423,886,000. GQG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Cenovus Energy in the second quarter valued at $411,552,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Cenovus Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $369,701,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Cenovus Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $355,752,000. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cenovus Energy Company Profile

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.