Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE saw a large decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,180,000 shares, a decline of 37.3% from the December 15th total of 17,820,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 7,700,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Cenovus Energy from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut Cenovus Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, December 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, TD Securities cut shares of Cenovus Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cenovus Energy currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.00.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Cenovus Energy stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $15.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,151,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,738,287. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $27.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 2.01. Cenovus Energy has a 1-year low of $14.20 and a 1-year high of $21.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $15.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.14.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.08. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cenovus Energy will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.133 per share. This is a positive change from Cenovus Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Cenovus Energy's dividend payout ratio is 35.17%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Cenovus Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Cenovus Energy by 640.3% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,065 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 2,651 shares in the last quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Cenovus Energy during the third quarter worth $162,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Cenovus Energy by 8.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 8,648 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $174,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.19% of the company's stock.

About Cenovus Energy

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.