Cenovus Energy Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:CVE)

Key Points

• Cenovus Energy experienced an unusually high trading volume of options, with 11,240 put options purchased, marking a 112% increase from the typical volume of 5,295.
• The company reported earnings of $0.33 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.14, despite a 12.6% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• Cenovus Energy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, with a yield of 4.8%, to be paid on September 29th, for shareholders of record on September 15th.

Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 11,240 put options on the company. Thisisanincreaseofapproximately112% compared to the typical volume of 5,295 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CVE. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Monday, August 25th. National Bankshares raised shares of Cenovus Energy from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Veritas downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cenovus Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $23.33.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Cenovus Energy stock traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $16.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,457,648 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,156,140. The firm has a market cap of $29.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $14.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Cenovus Energy has a twelve month low of $10.23 and a twelve month high of $18.61.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $10.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.64 billion. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 9.06% and a net margin of 5.18%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Cenovus Energy will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Cenovus Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.43%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cenovus Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CVE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 8.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,483,601 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $757,213,000 after purchasing an additional 4,401,045 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 2.3% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 26,845,367 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $365,097,000 after purchasing an additional 606,042 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 7.2% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 20,890,672 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $284,447,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409,439 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 13.3% during the second quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,552,075 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $238,999,000 after purchasing an additional 2,056,163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 33.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 17,363,386 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $241,513,000 after purchasing an additional 4,362,384 shares in 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.

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