Topic: Growth Stocks

The Stock Pickers Digest Hotline – Friday, November 20, 2009

Article Excerpt

DEVON ENERGY CORP., $67.50, symbol DVN on New York, has announced plans to sell its properties in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as its international assets. After taxes, the company expects the sales to generate between $4.5 billion and $7.5 billion. The properties that Devon is selling make up about 7% of the company’s proven reserves of 2.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent. But they are high-risk and costly prospects to develop, and consume over 30% of Devon’s spending. Their potential is huge, but they would take many years and billions of dollars more to develop. The sales will let Devon focus on its onshore North American properties. Apart from conventional production, these include shale oil in northern Texas and oil sands in Canada. The company also plans to cut its debt from $5.8 billion to as low as $2.5 billion. That’s just 8.3% of its $30.0-billion market cap. Devon Energy is still a buy. CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL, $83.19, symbol CMG.B…