Korea Investment CORP Purchases 611,400 Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) by 67.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,517,768 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 611,400 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Cenovus Energy were worth $22,996,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 104.9% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,742 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 1,677 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $174,000. Finally, Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $182,000. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cenovus Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVE opened at $13.78 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.99. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $12.08 and a 12 month high of $21.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $14.26 and a 200 day moving average of $15.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.27). Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 5.82%. The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.08 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy Inc. 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 issued a $0.1269 dividend. This represents a $0.51 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CVE shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Cenovus Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank upgraded Cenovus Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cenovus Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.00.

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.