Portland Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Holdings in Veren Inc. (NYSE:VRN)

Portland Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in Veren Inc. (NYSE:VRN) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,880 shares during the quarter. Portland Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Veren were worth $624,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of VRN. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Veren by 46.7% during the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,458,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,624,000 after buying an additional 1,737,840 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Veren during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,162,000. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Veren during the 2nd quarter valued at about $624,000. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in Veren during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,414,000. Finally, Ninepoint Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Veren in the 2nd quarter valued at about $125,920,000. 49.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Veren Stock Performance

VRN stock opened at $5.30 on Friday. Veren Inc. has a one year low of $4.90 and a one year high of $9.28. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.94.

Veren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a boost from Veren’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.42%. Veren’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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