Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Sells 70,935 Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE)

Key Points

• Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board has reduced its stake in Cenovus Energy by 12.5%, selling 70,935 shares in the first quarter of the year.
• Several brokerages have issued mixed ratings on Cenovus Energy, with the stock currently holding a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $23.33.
• Cenovus Energy recently declared an increased dividend of $0.20 per share, up from $0.11, indicating a strong yield of 425.0%.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board cut its holdings in Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE - Free Report) TSE: CVE by 12.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 497,763 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 70,935 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Cenovus Energy were worth $6,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 191,412,590 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $2,901,131,000 after buying an additional 26,127,617 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 8.8% in 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 buying an additional 4,401,045 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 0.7% in the fourth 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. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 56.5% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 19,481,233 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $270,742,000 after buying an additional 7,035,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,001,002 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $196,935,000 after buying an additional 4,220,663 shares in the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CVE has been the subject of a number of research reports. National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Cenovus Energy from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Cenovus Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Veritas lowered Cenovus Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cenovus Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $23.33.

Cenovus Energy Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Cenovus Energy stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $14.88. 10,159,000 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,665,970. Cenovus Energy Inc has a 1-year low of $10.23 and a 1-year high of $20.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.73 and a beta of 0.97. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $14.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.69.

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

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from Cenovus Energy's previous dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a dividend yield of 425.0%. Cenovus Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.43%.

Cenovus Energy Company 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.