Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) Given "Outperform" Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada restated their outperform rating on shares of Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Free Report) TSE: CVE in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $28.00 price objective on the oil and gas company's stock.

CVE has been the topic of several other reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Cenovus Energy from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Securities cut shares of Cenovus Energy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cenovus Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, December 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.00.

Cenovus Energy Price Performance

Cenovus Energy stock traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $15.44. 8,513,990 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,379,468. Cenovus Energy has a 52 week low of $14.20 and a 52 week high of $21.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market cap of $28.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.65 and a beta of 2.01. The company's fifty day moving average is $15.50 and its 200-day moving average is $17.34.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE - Get Free Report) TSE: CVE last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The oil and gas company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.08. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 12.88% and a net margin of 6.72%. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. Cenovus Energy's revenue was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.133 per share. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. This is an increase from Cenovus Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Cenovus Energy's dividend payout ratio is 36.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. United Services Automobile Association grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 427,405 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $8,401,000 after buying an additional 6,732 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 8.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 566,324 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $11,132,000 after acquiring an additional 42,089 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Cenovus Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $348,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 8.7% in the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 92,252 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 7,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 927,005 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $18,225,000 after purchasing an additional 116,877 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 51.19% of the company's stock.

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.