Devon Energy Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:DVN)

Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 45,020 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 35% compared to the average daily volume of 33,241 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of DVN. EnCap Energy Capital Fund XI L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Devon Energy in the third quarter valued at about $461,857,000. EnCap Partners GP LLC acquired a new stake in Devon Energy during the third quarter worth about $408,653,000. EnCap Energy Capital Fund X L.P. bought a new position in Devon Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $230,928,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Devon Energy by 4,125.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,280,961 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $89,231,000 after purchasing an additional 2,226,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 16.9% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 11,591,168 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $453,446,000 after buying an additional 1,677,652 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.72% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on DVN shares. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Devon Energy in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Devon Energy from $63.00 to $62.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Devon Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Devon Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.43.

Devon Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DVN stock opened at $36.84 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $24.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.83, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 2.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $35.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Devon Energy has a 52 week low of $30.39 and a 52 week high of $55.09.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The energy company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.72 billion. Devon Energy had a net margin of 21.71% and a return on equity of 24.73%. Devon Energy’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Devon Energy will post 4.79 EPS for the current year.

Devon Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. Devon Energy’s payout ratio is 16.33%.

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.