Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $39.19 and last traded at $38.9350, with a volume of 1038076 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on DVN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Siebert Williams Shank reduced their target price on Devon Energy from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Devon Energy from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $53.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Devon Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $41.00 in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.31.

Devon Energy Stock Up 1.9%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.52 and a 200-day moving average of $34.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $24.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.60.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The energy company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $0.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.10 billion. Devon Energy had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 15.56%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Devon Energy Corporation will post 4.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Devon Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Devon Energy’s payout ratio is presently 22.59%.

Institutional Trading of Devon Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PFS Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Devon Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Devon Energy during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Devon Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Devon Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. increased its position in Devon Energy by 702.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 802 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.72% of the company’s stock.

About Devon Energy

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.