MML Investors Services LLC Takes $163,000 Position in Veren Inc. (NYSE:VRN)

MML Investors Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Veren Inc. (NYSE:VRN) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 26,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Veren during the 2nd quarter valued at $155,853,000. Ninepoint Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Veren during the 2nd quarter valued at about $125,920,000. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new stake in shares of Veren during the 2nd quarter valued at about $105,665,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Veren in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $65,155,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Veren in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $79,409,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.37% of the company’s stock.

Veren Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of VRN opened at $4.90 on Friday. Veren Inc. has a 1 year low of $4.39 and a 1 year high of $9.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 2.16.

Veren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be issued a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.94%. 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 24.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.