Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,775 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,300 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Cenovus Energy were worth $331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 75,105 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,989 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $2,528,000. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cenovus Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $536,000. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the third quarter worth about $315,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,472,000. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CVE shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Cenovus Energy from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note 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 cut Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.00.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Cenovus Energy stock opened at $15.62 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $28.57 billion, a PE ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 2.05. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.69 and a 52 week high of $21.90.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (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 net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 12.88%. The firm had revenue of $14.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.133 per share. This represents a $0.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.55%.

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.