Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) Trading Up 1.9% on Analyst Upgrade

Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN)’s share price rose 1.9% during trading on Thursday after Raymond James raised their price target on the stock from $53.00 to $54.00. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Devon Energy traded as high as $37.22 and last traded at $37.14. Approximately 1,129,050 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 10,326,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.46.

A number of other research firms have also commented on DVN. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $49.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Devon Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised Devon Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup cut their target price on Devon Energy from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Devon Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.41.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Devon Energy

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

Devon Energy Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $23.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 2.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The energy company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion during 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Devon Energy Co. will post 4.68 EPS for the current year.

Devon Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Devon Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.33%.

Devon Energy Company Profile

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.