Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,890,000 shares, a decrease of 13.1% from the January 31st total of 14,830,000 shares. Currently, 1.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 9,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 13,879 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 2,520 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 776,070 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $12,960,000 after purchasing an additional 43,023 shares during the period. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $380,000. Washington Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 135,362 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,265,000 after buying an additional 14,814 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Cenovus Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

CVE opened at $12.72 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.59. Cenovus Energy has a one year low of $12.07 and a one year high of $21.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51 and a beta of 1.99.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.08 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 10.73%. Analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.1269 per share. This represents a $0.51 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is 40.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CVE shares. StockNews.com lowered Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Cenovus Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, National Bank Financial cut Cenovus Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.25.

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.