Drilling focus should boost their output

Article Excerpt

DEVON ENERGY CORP. $43.75 (New York symbol DVN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (405-235-3611; www.dvn.com; Shares outstanding: 523.4 million; Market cap: $22.9 billion; Dividend yield: 0.7%) is one of the largest explorers and producers of oil and natural gas in the U.S. The production mix for the company’s 19,000 wells is 64% oil and 36% natural gas. Devon’s output averaged 548,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (both oil and gas) for the fourth quarter, ended March 31, 2018. That’s down 3.4% from 563,000 a year earlier. However, cash flow per share jumped 45.7%, to $0.51 from $0.35. The gain was mostly due to higher realized oil prices and much lower costs. The company’s long-term debt of $9.6 billion is a somewhat high 41% of its market cap. However, none of that comes due before 2021. Devon also holds $1.4 billion in cash. In addition, it just raised another $3.1 billion by selling non-core assets. The company will, however, retain what it sees as the best of its…