Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on DVN. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Devon Energy from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Devon Energy in a report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Devon Energy from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Devon Energy from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on Devon Energy from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.44.

Devon Energy Price Performance

Devon Energy stock opened at $42.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94. Devon Energy has a 1 year low of $31.45 and a 1 year high of $52.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $46.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.31.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The energy company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.02). The company 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%.Devon Energy’s revenue was down 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Devon Energy will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jeffrey L. Ritenour sold 70,029 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 428,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,991,570.32. The trade was a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Adam M. Vela sold 24,342 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.21, for a total value of $1,149,185.82. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 130,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,162,793.40. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 112,371 shares of company stock valued at $5,258,059 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Devon Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DVN. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Devon Energy by 2,108.0% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,386,921 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $233,953,000 after acquiring an additional 6,097,658 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $132,206,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600,731 shares during the last quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $324,204,000 after acquiring an additional 3,195,862 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,802,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Devon Energy by 92.2% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,180,682 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $260,692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,485,603 shares during 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.