CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI) Short Interest Up 13.6% in June

CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,250,000 shares, a growth of 13.6% from the May 31st total of 6,380,000 shares. Approximately 7.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 962,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CVI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their target price on CVR Energy from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut CVR Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, June 16th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on CVR Energy from $37.00 to $33.75 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on CVR Energy from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $29.94.

CVR Energy Price Performance

CVI traded up $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 503,113 shares, compared to its average volume of 951,077. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.64. CVR Energy has a 1 year low of $25.99 and a 1 year high of $39.36. The company has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 1.54.

CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The oil and gas company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.13 by ($0.09). CVR Energy had a net margin of 7.44% and a return on equity of 40.14%. The firm had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 18.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that CVR Energy will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

CVR Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. CVR Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CVR Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of CVR Energy by 76,632.2% during the 4th quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 45,272 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,372,000 after acquiring an additional 45,213 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of CVR Energy by 3,191.9% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 32,458 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 31,472 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of CVR Energy by 282.5% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 104,989 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,181,000 after acquiring an additional 77,539 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of CVR Energy by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 123,088 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,730,000 after acquiring an additional 27,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in CVR Energy by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 139,610 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,230,000 after buying an additional 28,797 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.88% of the company’s stock.

CVR Energy Company Profile

CVR Energy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the petroleum refining and marketing, and nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing activities in the United States. It operates in two segments, Petroleum and Nitrogen Fertilizer. The Petroleum segment refines and supplies gasoline, crude oil, distillate, diesel fuel, and other refined products.