Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) Short Interest Up 58.3% in March

Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 24,394,823 shares, a growth of 58.3% from the February 26th total of 15,409,222 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 16,753,803 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days. Currently, 4.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Devon Energy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of DVN. McAlvany Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Devon Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,503,000. Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new position in Devon Energy during the fourth quarter worth $130,000. World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Devon Energy by 54.3% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 46,916 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after purchasing an additional 16,505 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Devon Energy by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 116,073 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $4,253,000 after purchasing an additional 13,124 shares during the period. Finally, Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Devon Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.72% of the company’s stock.

Devon Energy Stock Performance

DVN stock traded up $0.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $52.05. 14,972,687 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,372,628. Devon Energy has a 1 year low of $25.89 and a 1 year high of $52.46. The company has a market cap of $32.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The energy company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.01. Devon Energy had a net margin of 15.37% and a return on equity of 16.28%. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Devon Energy will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Devon Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Devon Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 23.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DVN shares. Siebert Williams Shank upped their target price on Devon Energy from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Devon Energy from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Devon Energy in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Argus upped their target price on Devon Energy from $41.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.32.

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.