Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) Stock

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) had its target price boosted by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $62.00 to $63.00 in a report released on Monday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the energy company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 29.33% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $46.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Devon Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $72.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Devon Energy from $46.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Evercore began coverage on Devon Energy in a report on Friday. They issued an “in-line” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.85.

Devon Energy Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE:DVN opened at $48.71 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $30.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.56 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.44. Devon Energy has a 12 month low of $30.24 and a 12 month high of $52.71.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The energy company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.34 billion. Devon Energy had a return on equity of 15.22% and a net margin of 13.71%.The business’s revenue was down 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Devon Energy will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jeffrey L. Ritenour sold 70,029 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.66, for a total value of $3,267,553.14. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 428,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,991,570.32. This represents a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Adam M. Vela sold 24,342 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.21, for a total transaction of $1,149,185.82. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 130,540 shares in the company, valued at $6,162,793.40. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Devon Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DVN. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new stake in Devon Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Devon Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 61.6% in the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 808 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Devon Energy by 702.0% during the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 802 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Devon Energy during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 69.72% of the company’s stock.

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.