CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI) Given Average Recommendation of “Strong Sell” by Analysts

CVR Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CVI) has received an average recommendation of “Strong Sell” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and two have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.00.

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of CVR Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of CVR Energy from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of CVR Energy from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th.

CVR Energy Stock Down 1.5 %

CVI opened at $18.08 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 301.30 and a beta of 1.55. CVR Energy has a twelve month low of $15.60 and a twelve month high of $38.07. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $20.60.

CVR Energy (NYSE:CVI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.13) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. CVR Energy had a net margin of 0.09% and a negative return on equity of 5.12%. As a group, equities analysts expect that CVR Energy will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Carl C. Icahn bought 76,268 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.20 per share, for a total transaction of $1,388,077.60. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 68,151,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,240,349,510.40. This trade represents a 0.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have bought 1,286,710 shares of company stock worth $23,333,545 in the last three months. 0.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CVR Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in CVR Energy by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 639,138 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $14,719,000 after purchasing an additional 81,590 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of CVR Energy by 214.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 78,030 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,797,000 after buying an additional 53,203 shares during the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of CVR Energy by 58.1% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 101,043 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $2,327,000 after buying an additional 37,130 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of CVR Energy by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,075,058 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $47,789,000 after buying an additional 317,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CVR Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $5,335,000. 98.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About CVR Energy

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.