BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Invests $2.56 Million in Veren Inc. (NYSE:VRN)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in shares of Veren Inc. (NYSE:VRN - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 324,281 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,558,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp owned 0.05% of Veren at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Veren in the 2nd quarter valued at $155,853,000. Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in shares of Veren in the 2nd quarter worth $105,665,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Veren in the second quarter valued at about $79,409,000. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Veren during the second quarter worth about $32,076,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Veren during the second quarter worth about $30,556,000. 49.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Veren from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th.

Veren Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of VRN traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $6.15. The company had a trading volume of 5,800,917 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,332,265. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Veren Inc. has a 12-month low of $6.03 and a 12-month high of $9.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $6.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -76.88 and a beta of 2.16.

Veren (NYSE:VRN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28. The company had revenue of $852.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $821.00 million. Veren had a negative net margin of 0.69% and a positive return on equity of 13.50%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Veren Inc. will post 1 earnings per share for the current year.

Veren Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.0834 per share. This represents a $0.33 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.42%. This is an increase from Veren's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Veren's payout ratio is presently -412.50%.

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.