4,509 Shares in Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN) Bought by Park Place Capital Corp

Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in shares of Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,509 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in Devon Energy by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 832 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Devon Energy by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $202,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Devon Energy by 60.7% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 675 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its stake in Devon Energy by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 5,587 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Finally, S. R. Schill & Associates boosted its stake in Devon Energy by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. S. R. Schill & Associates now owns 7,784 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Devon Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $53.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $52.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.24.

Insider Transactions at Devon Energy

In other news, EVP Tana K. Cashion sold 20,000 shares of Devon Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.04, for a total transaction of $1,020,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,182 shares in the company, valued at $5,317,449.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.73% of the company’s stock.

Devon Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DVN traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $47.73. 4,480,861 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,346,412. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.93. Devon Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $40.47 and a 1 year high of $55.09. The company has a market cap of $30.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 2.07.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The energy company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.06. Devon Energy had a net margin of 22.27% and a return on equity of 29.02%. The firm had revenue of $3.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Devon Energy Co. will post 5.25 EPS for the current year.

Devon Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Devon Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.79%.

Devon Energy Profile

Devon Energy Corporation, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. It operates in Delaware, Eagle Ford, Anadarko, Williston, and Powder River Basins. The company was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.