Devon Energy Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:DVN)

Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 38,440 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 79% compared to the average volume of 21,490 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Capital One Financial dropped their price objective on Devon Energy from $52.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $48.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $42.00 price target on Devon Energy and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Devon Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.62.

Devon Energy Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of DVN stock traded up $1.03 on Wednesday, hitting $37.87. The stock had a trading volume of 16,699,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,077,134. The firm has a market cap of $23.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.91, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.60. Devon Energy has a twelve month low of $25.89 and a twelve month high of $38.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.60.

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

Devon Energy Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Devon Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Devon Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Caldwell Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Devon Energy during the second quarter worth about $25,000. PFS Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Devon Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in Devon Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Devon Energy by 61.6% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 808 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 308 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.