Raymond James & Associates Lowers Holdings in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

Raymond James & Associates lowered its holdings in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE - Free Report) TSE: CVE by 13.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 262,480 shares of the oil and gas company's stock after selling 41,846 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates' holdings in Cenovus Energy were worth $4,391,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in Cenovus Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,482,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,946,000. M&G Plc grew its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 3,496,370 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $69,013,000 after purchasing an additional 82,840 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $733,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 21.6% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,510,946 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $50,268,000 after purchasing an additional 445,826 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.19% of the company's stock.

Cenovus Energy Stock Down 2.5 %

CVE stock traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $15.67. 8,905,917 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,748,370. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.69 and a 52 week high of $21.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a market cap of $28.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 2.05. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $17.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.86.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The oil and gas company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $10.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.78 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 12.87%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.133 dividend. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. This is an increase from Cenovus Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Cenovus Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Cenovus Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Cenovus Energy from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.00.

Cenovus Energy Company 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.