Wall Street Zen Downgrades Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) to Sell

Key Points

• Cenovus Energy has been downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a more cautious outlook on the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, the company has a current average analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $23.00.
• Cenovus Energy recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.32, exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.29, although revenue fell short of expectations at $11.15 billion.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Cenovus Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Veritas downgraded Cenovus Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Cenovus Energy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $23.00.

Cenovus Energy Stock Up 0.9%

Cenovus Energy stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $15.16. The stock had a trading volume of 15,638,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,070,586. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $14.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.70. Cenovus Energy has a 1-year low of $10.23 and a 1-year high of $20.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last released its earnings results 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. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 9.56% and a net margin of 5.22%. The firm had revenue of $11.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Cenovus Energy will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Cenovus Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 191,412,590 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,901,131,000 after purchasing an additional 26,127,617 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Cenovus Energy by 56.5% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 19,481,233 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $270,742,000 after acquiring an additional 7,035,004 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,483,601 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $757,213,000 after buying an additional 4,401,045 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 33.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 17,363,386 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $241,513,000 after purchasing an additional 4,362,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 2,719.3% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,141,434 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $57,533,000 after purchasing an additional 3,994,539 shares during the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.