Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Short Interest Update

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 21,610,000 shares, a growth of 67.6% from the February 13th total of 12,890,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 10,310,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:CVE traded up $0.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $13.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,139,073 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,469,325. The firm has a market cap of $24.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $14.51 and a 200-day moving average of $15.68. Cenovus Energy has a 12 month low of $12.08 and a 12 month high of $21.90.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $8.40 billion during 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%. Research analysts expect that Cenovus Energy will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.1269 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.51 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is 40.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. 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 raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $196,935,000 after acquiring an additional 4,220,663 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 91.7% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 7,233,491 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $109,515,000 after acquiring an additional 3,460,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,337,551 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $65,667,000 after purchasing an additional 2,221,549 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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