Veren (TSE:VRN) Shares Up 16% – Still a Buy?

Veren Inc. (TSE:VRN)’s stock price shot up 16% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$8.39 and last traded at C$8.19. 27,269,131 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 486% from the average session volume of 4,652,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$7.06.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on VRN. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Veren from C$10.00 to C$9.75 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Desjardins cut shares of Veren from a “buy” rating to a “tender” rating and upped their target price for the company from C$11.00 to C$12.60 in a research note on Tuesday. National Bankshares upped their target price on shares of Veren from C$12.50 to C$13.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. ATB Capital cut their target price on shares of Veren from C$11.00 to C$9.50 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, CIBC dropped their price objective on shares of Veren from C$13.00 to C$12.50 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$11.74.

Veren Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is C$7.53. The firm has a market cap of C$5.37 billion and a P/E ratio of 4.99.

Veren Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th.

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.