Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Short Interest Down 13.1% in February

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) saw 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 shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 9,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Cenovus Energy Stock Up 2.4 %

Cenovus Energy stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $12.66. The stock had a trading volume of 14,189,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,511,453. 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 fifty-two week low of $12.07 and a fifty-two week high of $21.90. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 1.99.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.08 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 10.73%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.1269 dividend. This represents a $0.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is currently 40.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 28th. National Bank Financial lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Cenovus Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.25.

Institutional Trading of Cenovus Energy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 191,412,590 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,901,131,000 after purchasing an additional 26,127,617 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 53,572,829 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $811,769,000 after acquiring an additional 382,519 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 39.3% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 4,351,960 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Cenovus Energy by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,001,002 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $196,935,000 after buying an additional 4,220,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,446,229 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $188,467,000 after purchasing an additional 117,568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

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.