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

Shares of Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN) traded up 1.9% 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. 1,129,050 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 10,326,828 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.46.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Devon Energy from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Benchmark raised shares of Devon Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Devon Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna cut their price target on Devon Energy from $63.00 to $62.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Devon Energy in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Devon Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.41.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caprock Group LLC boosted its stake in Devon Energy by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 65,094 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,131,000 after buying an additional 14,509 shares in the last quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 15,050 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in shares of Devon Energy by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 12,743 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 3,455 shares in the last quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC now owns 94,972 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,108,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Devon Energy in the 4th quarter worth $1,336,000. 69.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Devon Energy Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization 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.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The energy company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 24.73% and a net margin of 21.71%. Devon Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Devon Energy Co. will post 4.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Devon Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. 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.