Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 507,276 Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE)

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. has increased its holdings in Cenovus Energy Inc. by 12.8%, acquiring an additional 507,276 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to approximately 4.47 million shares valued at over $62 million.
• Cenovus Energy recently announced a dividend increase from $0.11 to $0.20 per share, representing a significant yield of 425% and a payout ratio of 57.43%.
• The company's stock has received mixed reviews from analysts, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a new average price target set at $23.33.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE - Free Report) TSE: CVE by 12.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,466,142 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 507,276 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.25% of Cenovus Energy worth $62,063,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CVE. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 106,532 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,614,000 after acquiring an additional 779 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Cenovus Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,649,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 20,974 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Sarl lifted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 1,224,469 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $18,552,000 after buying an additional 69,411 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 53,572,829 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $811,769,000 after buying an additional 382,519 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.19% of the company's stock.

Cenovus Energy Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE CVE opened at $15.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $27.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 0.97. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $14.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.70. Cenovus Energy Inc has a one year low of $10.23 and a one year high of $20.03.

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 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $10.64 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 5.18% and a return on equity of 9.06%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy Inc will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change from Cenovus Energy's previous dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a yield of 425.0%. Cenovus Energy's payout ratio is 57.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CVE. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Veritas lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a report on Friday, April 25th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.33.

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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