Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest in Devon Energy surged 35.9% in March to 33,160,731 shares (about 5.4% of the company's stock) with a days-to-cover ratio of 1.6.
• Several hedge funds increased their stakes (e.g., Woodline Partners nearly doubled its holding) and institutional investors now own roughly 69.7% of the stock, signaling rising institutional interest.
• Analysts have lifted ratings and targets recently — the consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $53.25, and some firms have targets as high as $63.00.

Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 33,160,731 shares, a growth of 35.9% from the March 15th total of 24,394,823 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 21,156,723 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Approximately 5.4% of the company's stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Devon Energy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in DVN. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Devon Energy by 98.8% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 115,780 shares of the energy company's stock worth $4,330,000 after acquiring an additional 57,555 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Devon Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $403,000. Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Devon Energy by 58.8% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 28,251 shares of the energy company's stock worth $899,000 after acquiring an additional 10,464 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Devon Energy by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 148,882 shares of the energy company's stock worth $4,736,000 after acquiring an additional 22,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Devon Energy by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 144,174 shares of the energy company's stock worth $4,586,000 after acquiring an additional 8,127 shares in the last quarter. 69.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Devon Energy Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:DVN opened at $45.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.47. Devon Energy has a twelve month low of $29.06 and a twelve month high of $52.71. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The energy company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.67 billion. Devon Energy had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Devon Energy will post 4.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Devon Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Devon Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DVN shares. Argus boosted their price objective on Devon Energy from $41.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research upgraded Devon Energy from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Devon Energy from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial started coverage on Devon Energy in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $63.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Devon Energy from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.25.

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.

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