Devon Energy Corporation $DVN Shares Purchased by Aventail Capital Group LP

Key Points

• Aventail Capital Group LP boosted its Devon Energy stake by 80.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 440,282 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 985,035 shares worth about $36.1 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their DVN holdings, and overall institutional ownership now stands at 69.72% of the stock.
• Devon Energy recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.32 per share from $0.24, implying an annualized yield of about 3.0%, even as its latest earnings and revenue came in slightly below expectations.

Aventail Capital Group LP increased its stake in shares of Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN - Free Report) by 80.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 985,035 shares of the energy company's stock after acquiring an additional 440,282 shares during the quarter. Devon Energy comprises approximately 2.1% of Aventail Capital Group LP's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Aventail Capital Group LP owned about 0.16% of Devon Energy worth $36,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DVN. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Devon Energy by 42,376.5% during the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,609,228 shares of the energy company's stock worth $132,206,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600,731 shares in the last quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC raised its stake in Devon Energy by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Kimmeridge Energy Management Company LLC now owns 8,850,790 shares of the energy company's stock worth $324,204,000 after acquiring an additional 3,195,862 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Devon Energy by 78.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,360,499 shares of the energy company's stock worth $202,327,000 after acquiring an additional 2,802,137 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Devon Energy by 608.8% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,695,079 shares of the energy company's stock worth $98,721,000 after acquiring an additional 2,314,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Devon Energy by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,916,979 shares of the energy company's stock worth $509,779,000 after acquiring an additional 2,071,021 shares in the last quarter. 69.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on DVN. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $42.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $54.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Devon Energy currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.44.

Insider Activity

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

Devon Energy Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:DVN opened at $42.57 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $26.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 0.37. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $46.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Devon Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $31.45 and a fifty-two week high of $52.71.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The energy company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.34 billion. Devon Energy had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 15.22%. The firm's revenue was down 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Devon Energy Corporation will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Devon Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from Devon Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Devon Energy's payout ratio is presently 35.65%.

Devon Energy 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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