Devon Energy Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:DVN)

Key Points

• Investors bought an unusually high number of call options on Devon Energy — 37,050 call options were traded on Tuesday, about 41% above the typical daily call volume.
• Several analysts have raised price targets and ratings (e.g., Capital One to $64, Citigroup to $60), leaving the consensus at a “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $53.29.
• Devon recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue (EPS $0.82 vs. $0.81 estimate; revenue $4.12B vs. $3.67B estimate), declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 ($0.96 annualized, 2.1% yield), though revenue was down 6.4% year-over-year.

Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 37,050 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 41% compared to the typical daily volume of 26,365 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DVN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Capital One Financial increased their price objective on Devon Energy from $50.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Devon Energy from $43.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Devon Energy from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Devon Energy from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $44.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $53.29.

Devon Energy Stock Down 4.6%

Shares of NYSE:DVN traded down $2.16 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $45.12. 5,564,349 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,795,751. Devon Energy has a fifty-two week low of $28.35 and a fifty-two week high of $52.71. The stock has a market cap of $28.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $46.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.33.

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

Devon Energy Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Devon Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Caldwell Trust Co bought a new position in Devon Energy during the second quarter worth about $25,000. PFS Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Devon Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Devon Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Devon Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Devon Energy by 61.6% during the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 808 shares of the energy company's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. 69.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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