Canadian oil & gas producer Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE)(NYSE:CVE) has recently announced the hiring of long-time Husky Energy Inc. (TSX:HSE) executive Jon Mackenzie as Chief Financial Officer, a move which the market has broadly viewed as a positive for the oil sands company.
This positive catalyst has turned out to be a rarity of late for Cenovus, with the company experiencing a series of headwinds which have pushed investors away from this stock, and the oil sands sector overall, in recent months.
That being said, shares of Cenovus have rebounded nearly 40% since the company’s 52-week low in February, as Cenovus has been hit hard by increasingly pessimistic investor sentiment stemming from an oil sands industry with a host of issues ranging from lack of pipeline capacity to international investment being pulled.
On the bright side for investors interested in potentially making an investment in one of the very cheap options on the Canadian oil patch, the discrepancy in the price of heavy oil and light crude has finally begun to narrow in recent weeks. While the gap was previously hovering around the $30 per barrel level, the discount Canadian producers are now receiving has hovered around $18, nearly half of its recent peak.
While the worst may be far from over for companies such as Cenovus, positive catalysts may not be too far out, providing value investors with a very intriguing proposition in a market otherwise littered with expensive names.
Invest wisely, my friends.
