Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $46.00 to $59.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Devon Energy traded as high as $52.52 and last traded at $52.53, with a volume of 92475 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.07.

DVN has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Devon Energy from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on Devon Energy from $48.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Argus raised their price objective on Devon Energy from $41.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Devon Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.32.

Institutional Trading of Devon Energy

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in Devon Energy by 98.8% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 115,780 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,330,000 after acquiring an additional 57,555 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Devon Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $403,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Devon Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $241,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Devon Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 697,069 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $22,174,000 after purchasing an additional 9,710 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.72% of the company’s stock.

Devon Energy Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average is $43.90 and its 200 day moving average is $38.23. The company has a market cap of $32.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The energy company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.01. Devon Energy had a return on equity of 16.28% and a net margin of 15.37%.The business had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. Devon Energy’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Devon Energy Corporation will post 4.85 EPS for the current year.

Devon Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Devon Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.02%.

Devon Energy Company Profile

Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: DVN) is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The company focuses on the exploration, development, production and marketing of hydrocarbons, including crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and natural gas. Devon operates as an upstream energy company that acquires, evaluates and develops onshore resource plays using a combination of drilling, completion and production optimization techniques.

Core business activities include identifying and developing energy reserves, operating well programs and managing reservoir performance to generate production and cash flow.