Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 163,732 Shares of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its position in Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) (TSE:CVE) by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,116,002 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 163,732 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Cenovus Energy were worth $38,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CVE. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cenovus Energy by 5.1% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 43,632 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $730,000 after purchasing an additional 2,122 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cenovus Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $408,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Cenovus Energy by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 40,194 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Cenovus Energy by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,413,919 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $109,232,000 after acquiring an additional 568,732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Cenovus Energy in the third quarter worth $783,000. 51.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cenovus Energy Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE CVE opened at $14.77 on Wednesday. Cenovus Energy Inc. has a one year low of $14.55 and a one year high of $21.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a market capitalization of $26.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 2.02. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.74.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $14.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.25 billion. Cenovus Energy had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 12.88%. Cenovus Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Cenovus Energy Inc. will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cenovus Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.133 per share. This is a boost from Cenovus Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Cenovus Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 36.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CVE shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of 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 report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Cenovus Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.00.

Cenovus Energy Profile

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.