Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN) Short Interest Up 9.5% in September

Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,200,000 shares, a growth of 9.5% from the August 31st total of 17,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,620,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Devon Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Devon Energy in the second quarter valued at about $1,026,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Devon Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $791,000. Wahed Invest LLC increased its position in shares of Devon Energy by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 10,944 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 648 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Devon Energy in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Devon Energy by 5.6% in the first quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.72% of the company’s stock.

Devon Energy Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Devon Energy stock traded up $0.65 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $39.77. The stock had a trading volume of 12,614,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,247,580. The company has a market capitalization of $25.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 2.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.95. Devon Energy has a 52 week low of $37.76 and a 52 week high of $55.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The energy company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $3.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.90 billion. Devon Energy had a return on equity of 29.14% and a net margin of 22.60%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Devon Energy will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Devon Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Devon Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DVN has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised Devon Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Devon Energy from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Devon Energy from $55.00 to $50.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Devon Energy from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Devon Energy from $65.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Devon Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.41.

About Devon Energy

Devon Energy Corporation, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. It operates in Delaware, Eagle Ford, Anadarko, Williston, and Powder River Basins. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.