California Public Employees Retirement System Purchases 149,508 Shares of Devon Energy Corporation $DVN

Key Points

• CalPERS boosted its Devon Energy stake by 12.7% in the first quarter, buying 149,508 more shares and bringing its total holding to 1,324,549 shares valued at about $66.7 million.
• Devon Energy reported mixed quarterly results, with EPS of $1.04 missing estimates by a penny and revenue of $3.81 billion below expectations; revenue also fell 14.5% year over year.
• The company raised its dividend to $0.32 per quarter from $0.24, equal to an annualized yield of about 2.9%, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $59.32.

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN - Free Report) by 12.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,324,549 shares of the energy company's stock after acquiring an additional 149,508 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.21% of Devon Energy worth $66,651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DVN. Tobam increased its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 1,633 shares of the energy company's stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Devon Energy by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 7,152 shares of the energy company's stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,712 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation National Association UT boosted its position in shares of Devon Energy by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 3,527 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. 69.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Devon Energy Stock Up 0.0%

DVN stock opened at $43.84 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $27.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business's 50-day moving average is $44.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.13. Devon Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $31.47 and a fifty-two week high of $52.71.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The energy company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.02). Devon Energy had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 15.22%. The firm had revenue of $3.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Devon Energy Corporation will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Devon Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from Devon Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Devon Energy's payout ratio is 35.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on DVN. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Devon Energy from $66.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Devon Energy from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $66.00 to $64.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $67.00 price objective on shares of Devon Energy and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.32.

Insider Activity at Devon Energy

In other Devon Energy news, SVP Adam M. Vela sold 24,342 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.21, for a total value of $1,149,185.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 130,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,162,793.40. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jeffrey L. Ritenour sold 70,029 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.66, for a total transaction of $3,267,553.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 428,452 shares in the company, valued at $19,991,570.32. The trade was a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 112,371 shares of company stock worth $5,258,059. 4.58% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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