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

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

Cenovus Energy Stock Up 2.4 %

CVE traded up $0.30 during trading on Thursday, hitting $12.66. The company had a trading volume of 14,189,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,511,453. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 1.99. Cenovus Energy has a one year low of $12.07 and a one year high of $21.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $14.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.98.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.08 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cenovus Energy will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CVE. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 2,520 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings 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 acquiring 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 approximately $380,000. Washington Trust Bank bought a new position in Cenovus Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Cenovus Energy by 12.3% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 135,362 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,265,000 after purchasing an additional 14,814 shares in the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cenovus Energy

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.