Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stake in Devon Energy Corporation $DVN

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) by 520.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,684,956 shares of the energy company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,413,234 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.15% of Devon Energy worth $69,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DVN. Tobam lifted its holdings in Devon Energy by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 1,633 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position 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 valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC grew its holdings in Devon Energy by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 5,647 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 56.6% in the second quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 678 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Devon Energy by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,712 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. 69.72% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Devon Energy Price Performance

DVN opened at $47.42 on Friday. Devon Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $31.47 and a 1 year high of $52.71. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The energy company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $7.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.01 billion. Devon Energy had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 14.93%. Devon Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 73.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Devon Energy Corporation will post 5.2 EPS for the current year.

Devon Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Devon Energy’s payout ratio is presently 30.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research set a $67.00 price target on shares of Devon Energy and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Devon Energy from $62.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Devon Energy from $66.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Devon Energy from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.15.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Andrea Alexander sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.74, for a total transaction of $841,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 138,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,474,845.46. This represents a 11.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.58% of the company’s stock.

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.