Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Holdings in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE - Free Report) TSE: CVE by 38.0% 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 5,003,593 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 3,063,093 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.27% of Cenovus Energy worth $75,809,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 104.9% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 54.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,742 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 1,677 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $174,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $182,000. 51.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Cenovus Energy stock traded up $0.57 on Thursday, hitting $12.23. 4,655,097 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,624,785. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.29 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 1.46. 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 1 year low of $10.23 and a 1 year high of $21.58.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $8.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.08 billion. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 10.73% and a net margin of 5.82%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.1269 per share. This represents a $0.51 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Cenovus Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CVE shares. Scotiabank raised shares of Cenovus Energy to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Cenovus Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, December 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, National Bank Financial lowered Cenovus Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Three investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.