Wall Street Zen Upgrades Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) to “Buy”

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Devon Energy in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised shares of Devon Energy from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Devon Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.60.

Devon Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DVN opened at $45.83 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $43.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $45.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Devon Energy has a twelve month low of $31.47 and a twelve month high of $52.71. The company has a market capitalization of $50.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Devon Energy news, SVP Andrea Alexander sold 18,000 shares of Devon Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.74, for a total transaction of $841,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.58% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Devon Energy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in DVN. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in Devon Energy by 98.8% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 115,780 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,330,000 after purchasing an additional 57,555 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Devon Energy in the second quarter valued at about $403,000. Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Devon Energy by 58.8% during the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 28,251 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 10,464 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Devon Energy by 17.8% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 148,882 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,736,000 after purchasing an additional 22,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Devon Energy by 6.0% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 144,174 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $4,586,000 after buying an additional 8,127 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.72% 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.