- Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) is a premium company available to investors at a discount, delivering top-tier returns as it improves its balance sheet, Barclays says as it reiterates an Overweight rating and raises its price target to $38 from $34.
- Barclays admires DVN's asset quality, as acquisition of world-class assets in the Eagle Ford and STACK during the past two and a half years, plus its 500K-acre Delaware Basin asset, gives the company strong positions in three first-class unconventional plays, plus a "supporting cast” that includes assets in the liquids-rich Woodford play, the Powder River Basin and heavy oil assets in Canada.
- The firm also says DVN’s 90-day initial production rates improved from middle of the pack in 2012-13 to #1 in 2015, reflecting real improvement in the company’s delivery that likely will drive a rising relative multiple as perceptions catch up to reality.