Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) Short Interest Down 39.0% in June

Key Points

• Short interest in Cenovus Energy fell sharply in June, dropping 39% to 28.7 million shares as of June 30. That amounts to about 1.5% of the float and a 3.3-day cover ratio.
• The company beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.61 versus the $0.56 consensus and revenue of $10.79 billion, above estimates. Analysts now expect full-year EPS of 2.91.
• Cenovus raised its dividend to $0.22 per share from $0.20, giving it an annualized yield of 3.2%. Wall Street currently has a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $35.25.

Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 28,673,616 shares, a decrease of 39.0% from the June 15th total of 47,034,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,642,637 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company's stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 13,407 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Cenovus Energy by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 93,986 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,590,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 65,248 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its position in Cenovus Energy by 5.2% in the first quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 12,597 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Cenovus Energy by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,307 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.19% of the company's stock.

Cenovus Energy Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE CVE traded up $0.10 on Thursday, reaching $27.46. The company had a trading volume of 620,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,774,157. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.14 and a beta of 0.34. The company's fifty day moving average is $27.59 and its 200 day moving average is $24.25. Cenovus Energy has a 52-week low of $13.90 and a 52-week high of $32.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.05. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 9.53% and a return on equity of 15.29%. The firm had revenue of $10.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Cenovus Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Cenovus Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on CVE. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Lake Street Capital set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research cut shares of Cenovus Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $35.25.

About Cenovus Energy

Cenovus Energy Inc is a Canadian integrated energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas, together with downstream refining and marketing activities. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Cenovus operates a mix of oil sands thermal and dilbit assets, conventional oil and gas properties, and owns refining and midstream assets designed to move and process hydrocarbons into finished petroleum products for commercial markets.

The company was originally formed as a spin‑off from Encana Corporation in 2009 and has grown through organic development and strategic acquisitions.

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