Washington Trust Bank Makes New Investment in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

Washington Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 12,802 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in Cenovus Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $1,482,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Cenovus Energy during the 2nd quarter worth $2,946,000. M&G Plc increased its stake in Cenovus Energy by 2.4% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 3,496,370 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $69,013,000 after purchasing an additional 82,840 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the first quarter valued at about $733,000. Finally, Semanteon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the third quarter worth about $845,000. 51.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CVE. TD Securities cut Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Cenovus Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cenovus Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

Cenovus Energy Price Performance

Cenovus Energy stock opened at $16.35 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.27 and a beta of 2.05. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a one year low of $14.69 and a one year high of $21.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.59.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.08. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.133 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is currently 36.55%.

Cenovus Energy 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.