HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE - Free Report) TSE: CVE by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 741,356 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after purchasing an additional 49,858 shares during the period. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC's holdings in Cenovus Energy were worth $11,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Cenovus Energy by 105.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,337,551 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $65,667,000 after buying an additional 2,221,549 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 4.9% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 245,302 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 4,678,976 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $71,775,000 after purchasing an additional 77,548 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 4,494,400 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $68,094,000 after purchasing an additional 411,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Cenovus Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $3,649,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.19% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Cenovus Energy stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $12.12. The company had a trading volume of 7,254,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,605,942. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $13.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.80. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.23 and a 52 week high of $21.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 1.46.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $11.08 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 10.73%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 4.19%. 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.