CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage with a sell rating on CVR Energy and a $30 price target, implying about a 0.97% downside from the prior close.
• Overall analyst sentiment is bearish—two Holds and four Sells—giving CVR Energy a consensus rating of Strong Sell and an average target price of $31.25.
• Contrasting the sell-side views, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn purchased 275,012 shares at about $21.41, increasing his stake to roughly 71.2 million shares.

Stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI - Get Free Report) in a report released on Friday. The brokerage set a "sell" rating and a $30.00 price target on the oil and gas company's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price target suggests a potential downside of 0.97% from the company's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CVI. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of CVR Energy from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of CVR Energy to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of CVR Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of CVR Energy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of CVR Energy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CVR Energy presently has an average rating of "Strong Sell" and a consensus target price of $31.25.

CVR Energy Price Performance

NYSE:CVI traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $30.30. The stock had a trading volume of 56,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,440,415. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of 116.32 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.79 and a quick ratio of 1.13. CVR Energy has a 12 month low of $16.66 and a 12 month high of $41.67.

CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.80) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.84) by $0.04. CVR Energy had a net margin of 0.38% and a negative return on equity of 14.31%. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.13) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that CVR Energy will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at CVR Energy

In other CVR Energy news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn purchased 275,012 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $21.41 per share, for a total transaction of $5,888,006.92. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 71,201,875 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,524,432,143.75. This trade represents a 0.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have acquired a total of 783,404 shares of company stock worth $16,445,044 in the last quarter. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVR Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of CVR Energy by 2.2% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 17,081 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $623,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of CVR Energy by 2.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,329 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of CVR Energy by 0.7% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 85,083 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $3,104,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in CVR Energy by 1.5% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 48,943 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,785,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in CVR Energy by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 13,394 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.88% of the company's stock.

About CVR Energy

CVR Energy, Inc is an independent downstream energy company engaged primarily in petroleum refining and nitrogen fertilizer production in the United States. Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, CVR Energy operates through two reportable segments—Petroleum Products and Nitrogen Fertilizers—leveraging its refining expertise and distribution network to serve both wholesale and retail markets across key regions in the U.S.

In its Petroleum Products segment, the company owns and operates the Coffeyville, Kansas refinery, which has the capability to process various grades of crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other refined products.

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