Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Shares Sold by Quadrature Capital Ltd

Quadrature Capital Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE - Free Report) TSE: CVE by 28.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,388,500 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 558,500 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd owned approximately 0.08% of Cenovus Energy worth $23,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 22,396.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 7,429,036 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $146,054,000 after acquiring an additional 7,396,013 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 81.1% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 12,538,499 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $246,507,000 after acquiring an additional 5,613,320 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 32,791.8% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,440,391 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $87,246,000 after acquiring an additional 4,426,891 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 2,236.1% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,610,779 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $90,608,000 after acquiring an additional 4,413,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 39.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,416,146 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $257,831,000 after acquiring an additional 4,351,960 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CVE shares. StockNews.com downgraded Cenovus Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Cenovus Energy from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Securities downgraded Cenovus Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.00.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CVE stock traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $15.69. The company had a trading volume of 2,709,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,820,771. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $16.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.09. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a 52-week low of $14.69 and a 52-week high of $21.90. The stock has a market cap of $28.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 2.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.25 billion. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 6.72%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.48 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 of this dividend 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 3.39%. 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.