Vltava Fund, a value-focused investment management company, published its investor letter for the second quarter of 2026. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The letter explores the growing role of AI and how certain facets of human intelligence may become less valuable economically, while other skills become more important. The author emphasizes that despite AI’s expanding capabilities in information collection and basic modeling, qualities like sound judgment, good taste, patience, original thinking, strategic skepticism, and the ability to recognize significance will continue to hold their value. Despite the excitement around A.I., fundamental investment principles remain unchanged. Please review the Fund’s top five holdings to gain insights into their key selections for 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Vltava Fund highlighted Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE). Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) is a leading Canadian-based integrated energy company that develops, produces, refines, transports, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and refined petroleum products. On July 2, 2026, Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) closed at $24.65 per share. One-month return of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) was -12.65%, and its shares gained 74.08% over the past 52 weeks. Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) has a market capitalization of $45.96 billion.
Vltava Fund stated the following regarding Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
“We also sold the Canadian Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE). This was the only company in our portfolio focused on oil production. It is fair to say that we made more here than we ever expected, primarily thanks to the war in Iran. Investing in oil-producing companies combines long-term considerations of a company’s fundamental value with short-term fluctuations caused by oil price volatility. Moreover, markets tend to overreact to stock prices, in both upward and downward directions. A year ago, in the spring of 2025, when uncertainty surrounding U.S. trade tariffs was at its peak, the spot price for a barrel of WTI crude oil plummeted to nearly $60. At that time, Cenovus shares were trading at Can$16. In our view, this was significantly below the company’s intrinsic value and it was a signal for us to buy.
This year, in the second quarter of 2026, as concerns peaked about the impact of the war in Iran on the oil market, the price of WTI climbed to $114 and Cenovus Energy shares rose above $40. The company’s intrinsic value certainly did not increase by 150% in just 1 year. That value cannot be derived from current oil prices but from long-term expected oil prices. Although these, too, have risen somewhat over the past year in our view, we did not believe that they justified a share price exceeding $40. That is why we sold the shares. We believe that in this sector, it is wise to respond to its greater cyclicality. The market tends to extrapolate current trends far into the future, and this creates opportunities in oil company stock prices for both good buying and good selling opportunities. It is therefore quite possible that, given favorable conditions, we will return to this stock in the future. Among other reasons, this is because the stock acts as a form of hedge against adverse geopolitical events. In this regard, the stock performed excellently this year.”
Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) is not on our list of 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds Heading Into 2026. According to our database, 42 hedge fund portfolios held Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) at the end of the first quarter, up from 46 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered Cenovus Energy Inc. (NYSE:CVE) and shared Billionaire Steven Cohen’s top dividend stock picks. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2026 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
