Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Lowered to Sector Perform Rating by National Bank Financial

National Bank Financial cut shares of Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports.

CVE has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Cenovus Energy from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cenovus Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.25.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CVE opened at $14.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $14.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.30. Cenovus Energy has a 52-week low of $13.76 and a 52-week high of $21.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.07 and a beta of 1.99.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.27). Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 6.72%. The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.08 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy will post 1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.1269 per share. This represents a $0.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,446,229 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $188,467,000 after purchasing an additional 117,568 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 241,113 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,653,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 56.9% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 18,717 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 6,786 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 96.3% during the fourth quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 820,575 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $12,423,000 after purchasing an additional 402,576 shares during the period. Finally, CSS LLC IL boosted its stake in Cenovus Energy by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. CSS LLC IL now owns 225,690 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,419,000 after buying an additional 33,390 shares in the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.