Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 38,700 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,753,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DVN. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Devon Energy by 1,279.7% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,145,605 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $278,396,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700,167 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Devon Energy by 96.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,608,577 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $344,984,000 after acquiring an additional 2,752,752 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Devon Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $113,793,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Devon Energy by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,647,104 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $555,567,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220,194 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Devon Energy by 3,885.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,695,206 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $76,793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652,671 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Devon Energy from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho cut their target price on Devon Energy from $54.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Devon Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $46.00 to $59.00 in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Raymond James cut their target price on Devon Energy from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Devon Energy from $53.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Devon Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.89.

Devon Energy Price Performance

Shares of DVN stock opened at $51.43 on Friday. Devon Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $40.47 and a twelve month high of $55.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.82 and a beta of 2.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The energy company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.02. Devon Energy had a return on equity of 31.72% and a net margin of 24.56%. The business had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Devon Energy Co. will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Devon Energy Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Devon Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 15.09%.

About Devon Energy

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.