Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 371,085 Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE - Free Report) TSE: CVE by 121.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 675,388 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after acquiring an additional 371,085 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank's holdings in Cenovus Energy were worth $11,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Cenovus Energy by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 11,053,328 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $184,278,000 after purchasing an additional 462,273 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,406,395 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $29,282,000 after acquiring an additional 234,500 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,422,158 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $29,609,000 after acquiring an additional 198,062 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cenovus Energy by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 49,480,149 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,030,177,000 after purchasing an additional 690,057 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its stake in Cenovus Energy by 315.6% during the third quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 187,000 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $3,893,000 after purchasing an additional 142,000 shares during the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CVE. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $28.00 target price on shares of Cenovus Energy in a report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group upgraded Cenovus Energy from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Cenovus Energy from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Cenovus Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $26.67.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CVE traded up $0.19 on Friday, hitting $20.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,443,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,850,383. The company has a market capitalization of $38.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 2.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.56. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a 12 month low of $14.69 and a 12 month high of $21.90. The stock's 50-day moving average is $18.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.00.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $9.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.29 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.81 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.1033 dividend. This is a positive change from Cenovus Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.41 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Cenovus Energy's dividend payout ratio is 25.95%.

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.