Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE)

Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 22,045 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 437% compared to the average daily volume of 4,108 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research downgraded Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings raised Cenovus Energy from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Cenovus Energy from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a report on Thursday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.00.

Cenovus Energy Trading Up 0.5%

NYSE CVE traded up $0.15 on Monday, hitting $33.27. 17,821,401 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,682,810. Cenovus Energy has a 52-week low of $15.63 and a 52-week high of $34.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $61.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $30.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.67.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The oil and gas company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 12.37%.The company had revenue of $14.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 47.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Cenovus Energy will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors 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 2.6%. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CVE. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 16.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 17,730,542 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Cenovus Energy by 3.9% in the fourth 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 during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 111.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,770,723 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $604,107,000 after acquiring an additional 11,990,405 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Cenovus Energy by 13.6% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,730,316 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $470,118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,117,875 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Cenovus Energy by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,995,459 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $287,897,000 after buying an additional 595,518 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Cenovus Energy Company Profile

Cenovus Energy Inc is an integrated Canadian energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company explores for, develops, produces and markets crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids, with a significant focus on oil sands projects in Alberta. Its upstream operations include oil sands mining and in situ production, conventional oil and natural gas assets, and offshore production interests in the Atlantic region.

Cenovus also operates downstream businesses that upgrade, refine and market petroleum products.