Barclays PLC Increases Stock Position in Veren Inc. (NYSE:VRN)

Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Veren Inc. (NYSE:VRN) by 313.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 132,245 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 100,279 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Veren were worth $813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of VRN. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Veren in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,331,000. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Veren in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,076,000. BOKF NA bought a new stake in shares of Veren in the 2nd quarter worth about $215,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Veren in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,491,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Veren in the 2nd quarter worth about $79,409,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on VRN shares. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Veren in a report on Friday, October 18th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $13.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Veren from $12.00 to $10.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Veren Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:VRN opened at $5.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 2.13. Veren Inc. has a 12 month low of $4.39 and a 12 month high of $9.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $5.14 and its 200 day moving average is $6.25. 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 was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Sunday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.17%. This is an increase from Veren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Veren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.86%.

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.