Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE)

Cenovus Energy Inc (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 22,045 call options on the company. This is an increase of 437% compared to the average daily volume of 4,108 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Cenovus Energy by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 124,313,513 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,103,090,000 after acquiring an additional 17,730,542 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 50,979,140 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $862,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,903,432 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 111.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 22,770,723 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $604,107,000 after purchasing an additional 11,990,405 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 13.6% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 17,730,316 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $470,118,000 after purchasing an additional 2,117,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,995,459 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $287,897,000 after purchasing an additional 595,518 shares during the period. 51.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of CVE stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Monday, reaching $33.27. 17,821,401 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,682,810. Cenovus Energy has a twelve month low of $15.63 and a twelve month high of $34.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $30.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.29 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.35.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The oil and gas company reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.11. Cenovus Energy had a return on equity of 21.08% and a net margin of 12.37%.The business had revenue of $14.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 47.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on CVE. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Cenovus Energy from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Desjardins raised shares of Cenovus Energy to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Cenovus Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Cenovus Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.00.

Cenovus Energy Company Profile

Cenovus Energy Inc is an integrated Canadian energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. The company explores for, develops, produces and markets crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids, with a significant focus on oil sands projects in Alberta. Its upstream operations include oil sands mining and in situ production, conventional oil and natural gas assets, and offshore production interests in the Atlantic region.

Cenovus also operates downstream businesses that upgrade, refine and market petroleum products.