Morgan Stanley Raises Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) Price Target to $50.00

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) had its price target hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $49.00 to $50.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the energy company’s stock.

DVN has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James dropped their price target on Devon Energy from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $53.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a sector outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Devon Energy in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Devon Energy from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $57.89.

Devon Energy Price Performance

DVN opened at $51.67 on Monday. Devon Energy has a 1 year low of $40.47 and a 1 year high of $55.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.81 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 2.19.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The energy company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.88 billion. Devon Energy had a net margin of 24.56% and a return on equity of 31.72%. Devon Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Devon Energy will post 5.02 EPS for the current year.

Devon Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Devon Energy’s payout ratio is 15.09%.

Institutional Trading of Devon Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DVN. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Devon Energy by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,145,039 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $715,360,000 after acquiring an additional 823,626 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Devon Energy by 23.6% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,647,104 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $555,567,000 after buying an additional 2,220,194 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Devon Energy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,539,335 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $386,832,000 after buying an additional 68,339 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Devon Energy by 5.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 8,429,670 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $402,095,000 after buying an additional 402,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Devon Energy by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,371,571 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $435,881,000 after buying an additional 99,059 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.72% of the company’s stock.

About Devon Energy

Devon Energy Corporation, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. It operates in Delaware, Eagle Ford, Anadarko, Williston, and Powder River Basins. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.