CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Strong Sell” by Brokerages

CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI) has received an average rating of “Strong Sell” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.00.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CVI. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of CVR Energy from $25.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com downgraded CVR Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on CVR Energy from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on CVR Energy from $26.00 to $23.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on CVR Energy from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

CVR Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CVI opened at $21.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53 and a beta of 1.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $18.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.14. CVR Energy has a one year low of $15.60 and a one year high of $38.07.

CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.41). CVR Energy had a net margin of 0.89% and a return on equity of 2.88%. The business had revenue of $1.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 27.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that CVR Energy will post -0.79 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn purchased 878,212 shares of CVR Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.25 per share, for a total transaction of $16,027,369.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 67,570,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,163,322.25. This trade represents a 1.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.01% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVR Energy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of CVR Energy by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 24,319 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 3,050 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of CVR Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in CVR Energy by 214.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 78,030 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 53,203 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in CVR Energy by 401.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 24,233 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $558,000 after purchasing an additional 19,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in CVR Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,302,000. Institutional investors own 98.88% of the company’s stock.

About CVR Energy

CVR Energy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the petroleum refining and marketing, and nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing activities in the United States. It operates in two segments, Petroleum and Nitrogen Fertilizer. The Petroleum segment refines and supplies gasoline, crude oil, distillate, diesel fuel, and other refined products.