Merit Financial Group LLC Raises Stake in Devon Energy Corporation $DVN

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115,418 shares of the energy company’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,291 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Devon Energy were worth $4,769,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Devon Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Devon Energy by 56.6% during the second quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 678 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in Devon Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Devon Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, SouthState Bank Corp lifted its stake in Devon Energy by 173.6% in the 1st quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 766 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DVN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Devon Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Devon Energy from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Devon Energy from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised Devon Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.60.

Devon Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DVN opened at $45.83 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.38. Devon Energy Corporation has a one year low of $31.47 and a one year high of $52.71.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The energy company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.17. Devon Energy had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 14.93%. The company had revenue of $7.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 73.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Devon Energy Corporation will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Devon Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Devon Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.40%.

Insider Transactions at Devon Energy

In other Devon Energy news, SVP Andrea Alexander sold 18,000 shares of Devon Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.74, for a total transaction of $841,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 138,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,474,845.46. The trade was a 11.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 4.58% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Devon Energy 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.