Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) Short Interest Up 23.3% in October

Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,520,000 shares, a growth of 23.3% from the September 30th total of 13,400,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,870,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CVE shares. TD Securities lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Cenovus Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Cenovus Energy from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on Cenovus Energy from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.75.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CVE traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $16.68. 10,019,557 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,849,981. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $30.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.97 and a beta of 2.04. Cenovus Energy has a 12 month low of $14.69 and a 12 month high of $21.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $17.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.93.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The oil and gas company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $10.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.78 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 16.61%. As a group, analysts predict that Cenovus Energy will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.132 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is presently 28.49%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SVB Wealth LLC grew its position in Cenovus Energy by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 19,710 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Cenovus Energy by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 8,648 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy by 5.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 16,347 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Cenovus Energy by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 18,881 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank boosted its position in Cenovus Energy by 1.6% in the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 69,273 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 51.19% of the company’s stock.

About Cenovus Energy

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.