Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 1,665,757 Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE - Free Report) TSE: CVE by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,335,029 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 1,665,757 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.40% of Cenovus Energy worth $111,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,043,884 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $121,865,000 after acquiring an additional 276,023 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the fourth quarter worth $3,442,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,226,155 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $79,176,000 after purchasing an additional 245,302 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $209,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,287,334 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $128,783,000 after buying an additional 1,873,415 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CVE shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 price target on shares of Cenovus Energy in a report on Friday. StockNews.com cut Cenovus Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, December 28th. Scotiabank raised shares of Cenovus Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.00.

Cenovus Energy Price Performance

Cenovus Energy stock traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.39. 7,934,165 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,657,890. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.23 and a 12-month high of $21.58. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $13.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.03. The company has a market cap of $20.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.41 and a beta of 1.46.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last announced its 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). The business had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.08 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 10.73%. Equities analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.1269 dividend. This represents a $0.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Cenovus Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.50%.

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.