Topic: Growth Stocks

DEVON ENERGY CORP. $59.34 – New York symbol DVN

DEVON ENERGY CORP. $59.34 (New York symbol DVN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (405-235- 3611; www.dvn.com; Shares outstanding: 406.0 million; Market cap: $24.2 billion; Dividend yield: 1.5%) is one of the largest U.S.-based oil and natural gas explorers and producers. Its production mix is 57% gas and 43% oil.

In 2011, Devon sold all of its international and Gulf of Mexico properties, which it saw as risky and expensive to develop. The company is now focused on its North American projects, which include conventional production, shale oil in Texas and oil sands in Alberta.

To further increase its North American output, Devon recently agreed to pay GeoSouthern Energy $6 billion for oil-producing assets and other properties in Texas’s Eagle Ford shale formation.

This purchase consists of 53,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day of production (including natural gas), and 82,000 acres of land with at least 1,200 undrilled locations. In all, the properties’ output is expected to reach as high as 140,000 barrels a day within five years.

Meanwhile, the company’s daily production averaged 690,800 barrels of oil equivalent in the three months ended September 30, 2013. That’s up 1.9% from 678,200 barrels a year earlier. Cash flow per share jumped 23.1%, to $3.89 from $3.16, on the increased production and higher oil and gas prices.

The company can easily afford the GeoSouthern purchase: its $10.1 billion of debt is a manageable 41.7% of its market cap, and it holds cash of $4.3 billion, or $10.59 a share.

The stock trades at 3.8 times Devon’s annual cash flow of $15.56 a share, based on the latest quarter. It yields 1.5%.

Devon Energy is a buy.

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