Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Tudor Pickering

Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on DVN. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $51.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Devon Energy from $46.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Devon Energy from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price target on Devon Energy from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Devon Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.79.

Devon Energy Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE DVN opened at $44.91 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.67. Devon Energy has a 12 month low of $29.06 and a 12 month high of $52.71. The company has a market capitalization of $27.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.77, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.47.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The energy company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.01. Devon Energy had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Devon Energy will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Devon Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Devon Energy’s payout ratio is currently 23.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Devon Energy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DVN. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 2,108.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,386,921 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $233,953,000 after acquiring an additional 6,097,658 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Devon Energy by 42,376.5% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,609,228 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $132,206,000 after buying an additional 3,600,731 shares during the period. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC raised its position in 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 valued at $324,204,000 after buying an additional 3,195,862 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Devon Energy by 78.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,360,499 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $202,327,000 after buying an additional 2,802,137 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Devon Energy by 608.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,695,079 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $98,721,000 after buying an additional 2,314,843 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.