Short Interest in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Rises By 23.3%

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,520,000 shares, an increase of 23.3% from the September 30th total of 13,400,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 7,870,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CVE. LVW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy during the first quarter worth $240,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy during the first quarter worth $215,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 10.8% during the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 314,445 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,507,000 after purchasing an additional 30,715 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy during the first quarter worth $729,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 3,330.2% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 768,527 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $15,363,000 after purchasing an additional 746,122 shares in the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cenovus Energy Stock Up 1.2 %

CVE stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.68. 10,019,557 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,849,981. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.97 and a beta of 2.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Cenovus Energy has a 1 year low of $14.69 and a 1 year high of $21.90.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The oil and gas company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $10.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.78 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 16.61%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.132 per share. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is presently 28.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Cenovus Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Cenovus Energy from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, TD Securities lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.75.

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.