Swiss National Bank Lowers Position in Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE)

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank reduced its position in Cenovus Energy Inc by 2.1%, now holding approximately 3.9 million shares valued at $54.2 million.
• Recent earnings showed Cenovus reporting an EPS of $0.33, beating analysts' expectations, but quarterly revenue declined 12.6% year-over-year.
• Cenovus Energy announced a dividend increase to $0.20 per share, reflecting a yield of 425%, up from the previous $0.11 dividend.

Swiss National Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE - Free Report) TSE: CVE by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,898,835 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 84,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.21% of Cenovus Energy worth $54,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CVE. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 1,165.1% in the first quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 2,808 shares during the period. Natixis bought a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $98,000. Clarius Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the first quarter valued at $150,000. Finally, SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 10.0% in the first quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,000 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 51.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on CVE shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Cenovus Energy from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cenovus Energy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Cenovus Energy from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Veritas cut Cenovus Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $23.33.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CVE traded down $0.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $15.13. The company had a trading volume of 2,550,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,937,325. The company has a market capitalization of $27.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.99 and a beta of 0.97. Cenovus Energy Inc has a 1 year low of $10.23 and a 1 year high of $20.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $14.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.70.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $10.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy Inc will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

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