Short Interest in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Drops By 9.0%

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,040,000 shares, a decrease of 9.0% from the October 15th total of 16,520,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 7,870,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CVE shares. TD Securities lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Cenovus Energy from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cenovus Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.00.

Institutional Trading of Cenovus Energy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 640.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,065 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,651 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 8.0% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 8,648 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the period. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $162,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy in the first quarter valued at $205,000. 51.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cenovus Energy Price Performance

Shares of CVE traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $16.07. 2,635,716 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,841,074. Cenovus Energy has a 12-month low of $14.69 and a 12-month high of $21.90. The company has a market cap of $29.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 2.05. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $16.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.46.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.08. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 6.72%. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. Cenovus Energy’s revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Cenovus Energy will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.133 dividend. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is a boost from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is presently 36.55%.

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.