Artemis Investment Management LLP Raises Stake in Diversified Energy Company PLC $DEC

Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in Diversified Energy Company PLC (NYSE:DEC) by 8.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,148,058 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 470,823 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP owned approximately 0.09% of Diversified Energy worth $82,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DEC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Diversified Energy by 4.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 617,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,773,000 after purchasing an additional 26,978 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Diversified Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $10,546,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Diversified Energy by 57.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 304,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,312,000 after purchasing an additional 111,625 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Diversified Energy by 275.1% in the first quarter. Walleye Capital LLC now owns 230,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,023,000 after buying an additional 169,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Diversified Energy by 0.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 140,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after buying an additional 748 shares during the last quarter. 26.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Diversified Energy Price Performance

DEC traded up $0.23 during trading on Thursday, hitting $14.26. 290,320 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 931,556. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.96. The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 4.41 and a beta of -0.28. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.68. Diversified Energy Company PLC has a 1 year low of $12.33 and a 1 year high of $18.90.

Diversified Energy (NYSE:DEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $442.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $492.98 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Diversified Energy Company PLC will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Diversified Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 2nd. Diversified Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 35.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Diversified Energy from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Mizuho set a $32.00 price objective on Diversified Energy in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Diversified Energy from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Diversified Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Diversified Energy from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.50.

Diversified Energy Company Profile

Diversified Energy Company plc is an independent energy company that owns and operates a portfolio of mature, producing oil and natural gas wells in the United States. The company focuses on acquiring long-life conventional assets and managing them through their full operating lifecycle, with activities spanning production, maintenance, infrastructure management and well retirement.

The company’s operations are concentrated in established U.S. onshore producing regions, including the Appalachian, Central and Rockies areas.