Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Veren (NYSE:VRN) Price Target to $10.00

Veren (NYSE:VRN) had its target price lowered by Royal Bank of Canada from $12.00 to $10.00 in a research note published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on VRN. Raymond James began coverage on Veren in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $13.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Veren from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th.

Veren Price Performance

VRN stock opened at $4.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.39. Veren has a 12 month low of $4.90 and a 12 month high of $9.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 2.17.

Veren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be paid a $0.085 dividend. This is a boost from Veren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Veren’s payout ratio is presently 24.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VRN. Easterly Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Veren by 15.0% in the third quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 452,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,782,000 after purchasing an additional 59,035 shares during the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP increased its stake in shares of Veren by 36.2% during the 3rd quarter. Olympiad Research LP now owns 29,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 7,724 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Veren by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,038,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,899,000 after acquiring an additional 653,300 shares during the period. Capital Management Corp VA lifted its holdings in shares of Veren by 92.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 3,124,775 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,498,544 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Veren by 46.7% in the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,458,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,737,840 shares during the last quarter. 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.