Westpac Banking Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Devon Energy Corporation $DVN

Westpac Banking Corp lessened its stake in shares of Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) by 74.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,485 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 21,330 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Devon Energy were worth $274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Devon Energy by 78.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,360,499 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $202,327,000 after acquiring an additional 2,802,137 shares during the period. Sourcerock Group LLC lifted its holdings in Devon Energy by 2,132.3% during the second quarter. Sourcerock Group LLC now owns 1,751,276 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $55,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672,824 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Devon Energy by 446.7% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,236,301 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $45,286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010,170 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc boosted its position in shares of Devon Energy by 7,667.4% in the fourth quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 943,817 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $34,572,000 after purchasing an additional 931,666 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Devon Energy by 704.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 975,114 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $34,187,000 after purchasing an additional 853,875 shares in the last quarter. 69.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Devon Energy Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE DVN opened at $45.98 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 0.37. Devon Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $31.32 and a 12-month high of $52.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $47.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last released its earnings results 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). Devon Energy had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 15.22%. The company had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Devon Energy Corporation will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Devon Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from Devon Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Devon Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on DVN. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Devon Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Zacks Research cut Devon Energy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Devon Energy from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Devon Energy from $46.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.89.

Insider Transactions at Devon Energy

In other Devon Energy news, EVP Jeffrey L. Ritenour sold 70,029 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.66, for a total transaction of $3,267,553.14. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 428,452 shares in the company, valued at $19,991,570.32. This trade represents a 14.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Adam M. Vela sold 24,342 shares of Devon Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.21, for a total value of $1,149,185.82. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 130,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,162,793.40. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 4.58% of the company’s stock.

Devon Energy Company Profile

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.