Bank of America Securities analyst Kalei Akamine maintained a Buy rating on Devon Energy yesterday and set a price target of $45.00.
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Kalei Akamine has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors tied to Devon Energy’s advantaged acreage position, robust inventory, and strong financial profile. He highlights that Devon’s recent success in the New Mexico federal lease sale, where it paid a record price per acre, is underpinned by high-quality, stacked-pay geology in the core of the Delaware Basin, supporting numerous drilling locations per unit. This transaction, along with prior state lease acquisitions, meaningfully expands Devon’s inventory of drilling opportunities at attractive implied per-location costs and positions the company to continue adding premium acreage through regular state and federal lease auctions in 2026.
Akamine also emphasizes Devon’s operational and financial resilience, noting that the company has roughly a decade of drilling runway in the Permian at its current pace, providing long-term visibility to production and cash flow. At moderate oil price assumptions, he projects substantial free cash after funding capital expenditures and base dividends, giving Devon ample capacity for debt reduction and share repurchases while still retaining balance sheet flexibility to pursue opportunistic lease acquisitions. With its capital program and dividend covered down to significantly lower oil prices, he views Devon as one of the most defensive, oil-levered E&P names under coverage, supporting the Buy rating and a price objective meaningfully above the current share price.
Akamine covers the Energy sector, focusing on stocks such as Devon Energy, Ovintiv, and National Fuel Gas Company. According to TipRanks, Akamine has an average return of -1.9% and a 46.22% success rate on recommended stocks.
In another report released on January 5, Bernstein also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $42.00 price target.