Bridgewater Associates LP Purchases Shares of 20,347 Veren Inc. (NYSE:VRN)

Bridgewater Associates LP acquired a new position in shares of Veren Inc. (NYSE:VRN) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 20,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Veren in the second quarter valued at $36,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Veren during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Veren in the 2nd quarter valued at about $61,000. Olympiad Research LP increased its stake in shares of Veren by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. Olympiad Research LP now owns 29,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 7,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new position in Veren in the 2nd quarter worth about $85,000. 49.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veren Price Performance

NYSE:VRN opened at $5.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 2.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $5.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.89. Veren Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.90 and a 12 month high of $9.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Veren Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Sunday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.50%. This is a boost from Veren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Veren’s payout ratio is presently 24.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on VRN. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Veren from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Veren in a research report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $13.00 price objective for the company.

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.