Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high 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 changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $52.07.

DVN has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Devon Energy in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Devon Energy in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Siebert Williams Shank increased their price target on Devon Energy from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Devon Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.32.

Institutional Trading of Devon Energy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Woodline Partners LP grew 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 period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Devon Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $403,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Devon Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $241,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Devon Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in 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 valued at $22,174,000 after purchasing an additional 9,710 shares during the period. 69.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Devon Energy Stock Up 0.2%

The firm has a market cap of $32.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.98.

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

Devon Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Devon Energy’s payout ratio is 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.