Smead Capital Management Inc. Acquires 372,680 Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc $CVE

Key Points

• Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Cenovus Energy by 2.5%, now holding approximately 15.5 million shares, representing 3.7% of its portfolio.
• Cenovus Energy declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20, yielding about 4.7% annualized, with the ex-dividend date set for September 15th.
• Equities analysts have shown optimism, with ratings upgrades leading to an average price target of $23.33 for Cenovus Energy shares.

Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE - Free Report) TSE: CVE by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,495,912 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 372,680 shares during the period. Cenovus Energy accounts for 3.7% of Smead Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Smead Capital Management Inc. owned 0.85% of Cenovus Energy worth $215,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CVE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 4,401,045 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 56.5% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 19,481,233 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $270,742,000 after purchasing an additional 7,035,004 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position 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. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 40.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,281,543 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $156,926,000 after purchasing an additional 3,237,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 42.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,518,483 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $118,379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,536,140 shares during the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CVE. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Monday, August 25th. National Bankshares upgraded Cenovus Energy from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Cenovus Energy from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Veritas downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cenovus Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cenovus Energy has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $23.33.

Cenovus Energy Trading Up 2.2%

CVE traded up $0.37 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $16.98. The company had a trading volume of 10,120,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,180,051. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.77. The stock has a market cap of $30.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.81 and a beta of 0.99. Cenovus Energy Inc has a 52 week low of $10.23 and a 52 week high of $18.61.

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

Cenovus Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Cenovus Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.43%.

Cenovus Energy Profile

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.