Veren (NYSE:VRN) Upgraded at Raymond James

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

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

Veren Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of VRN stock opened at $6.03 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $6.67. Veren has a 52 week low of $5.95 and a 52 week high of $9.28. The company has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.38 and a beta of 2.14. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.28. The company had revenue of $852.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $821.00 million. Veren had a negative net margin of 0.69% and a positive return on equity of 13.50%. Analysts anticipate that Veren will post 0.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Veren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.0834 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.33 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.53%. This is an increase from Veren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Veren’s payout ratio is currently -412.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Veren

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Veren during the second quarter valued at $155,853,000. Ninepoint Partners LP purchased a new stake in Veren during the second quarter valued at $125,920,000. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new stake in Veren during the second quarter valued at $105,665,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Veren during the second quarter valued at $79,409,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in Veren during the second quarter valued at $74,306,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.37% of the company’s stock.

About Veren

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.