Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stock Position in Cenovus Energy Inc $CVE

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,198,130 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 282,541 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.28% of Cenovus Energy worth $88,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cenovus Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in Cenovus Energy by 961.5% in the fourth quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,656 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Cenovus Energy by 74.1% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,253 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Cenovus Energy in the third quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Cenovus Energy by 32.2% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,025 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CVE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research upgraded Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $35.25.

Cenovus Energy Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE:CVE opened at $27.57 on Friday. Cenovus Energy Inc has a twelve month low of $12.88 and a twelve month high of $32.07. The company has a market cap of $51.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.15 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The oil and gas company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $10.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.47 billion. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 9.53%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy Inc will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is 32.42%.

About Cenovus Energy

Cenovus Energy Inc is a Canadian integrated energy company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas liquids and natural gas, together with downstream refining and marketing activities. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Cenovus operates a mix of oil sands thermal and dilbit assets, conventional oil and gas properties, and owns refining and midstream assets designed to move and process hydrocarbons into finished petroleum products for commercial markets.

The company was originally formed as a spin‑off from Encana Corporation in 2009 and has grown through organic development and strategic acquisitions.