Short Interest in Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) Increases By 43.3%

Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,300,000 shares, an increase of 43.3% from the May 15th total of 12,770,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on CVE. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Cenovus Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Veritas lowered Cenovus Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, National Bankshares reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $25.75.

Institutional Trading of Cenovus Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cenovus Energy by 104.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Cenovus Energy in the first quarter worth $38,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Cenovus Energy by 1,165.1% in the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 2,808 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Cenovus Energy in the first quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Cenovus Energy in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.19% of the company's stock.

Cenovus Energy Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:CVE traded down $0.17 during trading on Thursday, reaching $14.62. 13,123,509 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,575,153. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66 and a beta of 0.94. Cenovus Energy has a 52-week low of $10.23 and a 52-week high of $20.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business's fifty day moving average is $12.96 and its 200-day moving average is $13.88.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The oil and gas company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $11.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.39 billion. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 5.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This is a positive change from Cenovus Energy's previous dividend of $0.11. Cenovus Energy's dividend payout ratio is 54.21%.

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.