Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 4,220,663 Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE - Free Report) TSE: CVE by 48.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,001,002 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,220,663 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.71% of Cenovus Energy worth $196,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CVE. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 105.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,337,551 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $65,667,000 after purchasing an additional 2,221,549 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,226,155 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $79,176,000 after acquiring an additional 245,302 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,678,976 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $71,775,000 after acquiring an additional 77,548 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 4,494,400 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $68,094,000 after buying an additional 411,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $3,649,000. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CVE shares. National Bankshares reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a report on Friday. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank raised shares of Cenovus Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.00.

Cenovus Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

Cenovus Energy stock traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $12.10. The company had a trading volume of 2,007,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,603,573. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.23 and a fifty-two week high of $21.58. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.98 and a beta of 1.46. The firm's fifty day moving average is $12.95 and its 200-day moving average is $14.64.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.27). Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 5.82%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.08 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.1269 per share. This represents a $0.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Cenovus Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.50%.

Cenovus Energy Company Profile

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.