Veren (NYSE:VRN) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” by Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of Veren (NYSE:VRN) to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Separately, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Veren from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th.

Veren Stock Performance

Veren stock opened at $6.03 on Thursday. Veren has a fifty-two week low of $5.95 and a fifty-two week high of $9.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.38 and a beta of 2.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Veren (NYSE:VRN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28. Veren had a negative net margin of 0.69% and a positive return on equity of 13.50%. The firm had revenue of $852.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $821.00 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Veren will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Veren Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.0834 per share. This represents a $0.33 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This is a boost from Veren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Veren’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -412.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veren

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Veren in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veren during the second quarter worth $42,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Veren in the second quarter valued at $61,000. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new position in Veren in the second quarter valued at $85,000. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new position in Veren during the second quarter worth about $103,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.37% of the company’s stock.

Veren Company Profile

Veren Inc explores, develops, and produces oil and gas properties in Canada and the United States. The company focuses on crude oil, tight oil, natural gas liquids, shale gas, and natural gas reserves. Its properties are located in the provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and Manitoba; and the states of North Dakota.