CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded CVR Energy from a "sell" to a "hold," but the sell-side consensus remains negative — one Hold and five Sell ratings yield a "Strong Sell" consensus with an average target price of $30.00.
• Carl C. Icahn bought 275,012 shares at about $21.41, bringing his stake to 71,201,875 shares (a 0.39% increase), while insiders have acquired 783,404 shares over the past three months.
• CVR reported Q4 EPS of ($0.80), beating estimates by $0.04 on $1.81 billion in revenue (down 7% YoY); the stock opened at $33.81 and was up roughly 5.2% on the day.

CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on CVR Energy from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered CVR Energy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on CVR Energy from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Strong Sell" and an average target price of $30.00.

CVR Energy Stock Up 5.2%

CVI stock opened at $33.81 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 130.06 and a beta of 1.12. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $24.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.16. CVR Energy has a fifty-two week low of $15.10 and a fifty-two week high of $41.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95.

CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.13) EPS. CVR Energy's revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CVR Energy will post -0.12 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn purchased 275,012 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $21.41 per share, for a total transaction of $5,888,006.92. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 71,201,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,524,432,143.75. The trade was a 0.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 783,404 shares of company stock worth $16,445,044. 0.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVR Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in CVR Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in CVR Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Horizon Investments LLC bought a new position in CVR Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of CVR Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CVR Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $53,000. 98.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CVR Energy Company Profile

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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