Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Price Target Raised to $30.00

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Free Report) TSE: CVE had its price objective boosted by Morgan Stanley from $28.00 to $30.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the oil and gas company's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $28.00 price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com lowered Cenovus Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, November 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised Cenovus Energy from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cenovus Energy presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $26.67.

Cenovus Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:CVE traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $20.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,328,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,797,323. Cenovus Energy has a 1 year low of $14.69 and a 1 year high of $21.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.25 and a 200-day moving average of $17.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 2.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.04. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 7.88% and a return on equity of 14.85%. The business had revenue of $9.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.1033 per share. This represents a $0.41 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Cenovus Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Cenovus Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.95%.

Institutional Trading of Cenovus Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Cenovus Energy by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 150,534,829 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $2,508,185,000 after acquiring an additional 7,750,480 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,480,149 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,030,177,000 after purchasing an additional 690,057 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 47,327,214 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $986,334,000 after purchasing an additional 388,652 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 42,191,779 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $706,503,000 after purchasing an additional 8,841,374 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 29,412,644 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $676,838,000 after acquiring an additional 2,325,082 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.19% of the company's stock.

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.