Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday morning.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on DVN. Zacks Research raised Devon Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Devon Energy from $44.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings raised Devon Energy from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Devon Energy from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Devon Energy from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Devon Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.41.

Devon Energy Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE DVN opened at $49.55 on Friday. Devon Energy has a 1 year low of $30.24 and a 1 year high of $52.71. The firm has a market cap of $30.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.44.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The energy company reported $1.04 earnings per share 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 net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 15.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Devon Energy will post 5.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Devon Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Devon Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Devon Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.74%.

Insider Activity at Devon Energy

In other news, SVP Adam M. Vela sold 24,342 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.21, for a total transaction of $1,149,185.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 130,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,162,793.40. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey L. Ritenour sold 70,029 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 428,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,991,570.32. This trade represents a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Devon Energy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Devon Energy by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,542,293 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,301,914,000 after buying an additional 212,074 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Devon Energy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,177,835 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $700,238,000 after buying an additional 186,743 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Devon Energy by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,916,979 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $509,779,000 after buying an additional 2,071,021 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Devon Energy by 2.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,606,131 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $483,475,000 after buying an additional 235,561 shares during the period. Finally, Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Devon Energy by 56.5% during the fourth quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC now owns 8,850,790 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $324,204,000 after buying an additional 3,195,862 shares during the period. 69.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.