Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Shares Sold by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its stake in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,498,242 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 594,000 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.36% of Cenovus Energy worth $98,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 104.9% in the fourth 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 purchased a new position in Cenovus Energy in the 4th quarter worth $67,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in 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 Cenovus Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $174,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Cenovus Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $182,000. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CVE shares. National Bank Financial downgraded Cenovus Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cenovus Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.00.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CVE opened at $12.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.09 billion, a PE ratio of 10.01 and a beta of 1.46. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $13.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.92. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.23 and a 1 year high of $21.58.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.08 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.1269 dividend. This represents a $0.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.50%.

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.