Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Sells 594,000 Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board trimmed its holdings in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE - Free Report) TSE: CVE by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,498,242 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 594,000 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.36% of Cenovus Energy worth $98,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CVE. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 38,768 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $649,000 after buying an additional 5,828 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Cenovus Energy by 9.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,413,919 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $109,232,000 after purchasing an additional 568,732 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $408,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 43,632 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $730,000 after buying an additional 2,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 1,289.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 430,781 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $6,526,000 after buying an additional 399,787 shares during the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cenovus Energy Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE CVE traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $12.00. The stock had a trading volume of 4,853,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,601,150. The company's 50 day moving average price is $13.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.78. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.23 and a twelve month high of $21.58. The firm has a market cap of $21.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 1.46.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last released 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). Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 10.73%. The firm had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.08 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.1269 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.51 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. Cenovus Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Cenovus Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, December 28th. Scotiabank upgraded Cenovus Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. National Bank Financial lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Cenovus Energy in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.00.

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.