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

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 48,563,284 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $970,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008,341 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in Cenovus Energy by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 37,540,511 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $750,435,000 after buying an additional 8,438,979 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 216.3% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 33,927,436 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $678,250,000 after buying an additional 23,202,018 shares during the period. Smead Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Cenovus Energy by 39.3% during the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,416,146 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $257,831,000 after purchasing an additional 4,351,960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 81.1% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 12,538,499 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $246,507,000 after buying an additional 5,613,320 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Cenovus Energy from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Securities cut shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

NYSE CVE traded up $0.09 on Tuesday, hitting $16.07. 2,635,716 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,841,074. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business’s fifty day moving average is $16.74 and its 200 day moving average is $18.46. Cenovus Energy has a 52 week low of $14.69 and a 52 week high of $21.90. The company has a market capitalization of $29.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 2.05.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.08. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 6.72%. The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.133 per share. This is a positive change from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.