Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $3.93 Million Position in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 259,125 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,294 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Cenovus Energy were worth $3,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tejara Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Cenovus Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $697,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 33.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 69,627 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 17,529 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Cenovus Energy by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,611,948 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $39,588,000 after purchasing an additional 225,550 shares during the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 12,671 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $192,000 after buying an additional 3,194 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Cenovus Energy by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,835 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 3,827 shares during the last quarter. 51.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cenovus Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:CVE opened at $13.90 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.08 and a twelve month high of $21.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $14.40 and a 200-day moving average of $15.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48 and a beta of 1.99.

Cenovus Energy (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.27). The company had revenue of $8.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.08 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 10.73%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Cenovus Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.1269 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.51 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. Cenovus Energy’s payout ratio is currently 40.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Cenovus Energy from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 28th. Finally, National Bank Financial lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.25.

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.