ATB Cormark Capital Markets raised its price target on Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) to CA$49.00 from CA$42.50 on Tuesday.

Analyst Patrick O'Rourke maintained an outperform rating on shares of the oil producer and refiner following its planned CA$5.7-billion acquisition of Athabasca Oil (ATH.TO) announced Monday.

"We view the acquisition as a logically sound consolidation of SAGD [steam-assisted gravity drainage] acreage that plays directly to CVE's operational strength; crucially, the cash-heavy structure captures high-margin growth without diluting per-share metrics (we see modest CFPS accretion on the deal) or derailing the company's 100% FCF return framework," O'Rourke said in a note to clients.

(MT Newswires covers equity, commodity and economic research from major banks and research firms in North America, Asia and Europe. Research providers may contact us here: https://www.mtnewswires.com/contact-us)