We recently published a list of 9 Best AI Energy Infrastructure Stocks to Buy Now. Since Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN) ranks 5th on the list, it deserves a deeper look.
Rob Thummel, senior portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital Advisors, while talking to CNBC in a latest program, said that he sees a big opportunity for AI in the energy industry. Thummel said that while everybody keeps talking about technology infrastructure when it comes to AI, they “forget” about energy infrastructure.
Thummel said that AI will create electricity demand that will in turn fuel the need for natural gas.
“There is no AI without EI (energy infrastructure) because you need this critical infrastructure to provide the fuel to keep their lights on and electricity flowing 24 hours a day.”
Talking about energy stocks, Thummel said a lot of them are “pretty simple stories” as they generate a lot of cash flows and return a significant portion of it back to shareholders.
Asked about the cyclical nature of the industry, Thummel said that global energy demand is currently at its peak and has grown for 38 years over the last four decades. The analyst said the demand for energy increases every year across the world. Thummel said the US has become the largest energy exporter and he does not see that changing for a long time.
Thummel also shared some of his top picks in the energy sector. For this article we scanned his portfolio and chose his top AI energy infrastructure picks. With each stock we have mentioned the total number of hedge fund investors. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN)
Number of Hedge Fund Investors: 44
Devon Energy is also among the top energy picks of Tortoise Capital.
Upstream energy giant Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN) is a notable dividend stock popular among hedge funds. During the first quarter, the company’s production beat its guidance by 4%, driven by strong activity in the Delaware Basin. Devon’s FCF hit $844 million, representing its 15th consecutive quarter of strong FCF generation. Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN) also increased its 2024 production guidance to about 665 thousand barrels/day. Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN) is allocating a whopping 30% of the FCF for shareholder returns, with a $3 billion share buyback authorization in place. Analysts believe Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN)’s low net debt-to-EBITDAX of 0.7x and high growth estimates make it an undervalued play.
Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN) is currently trading at a P/E multiple of 8.9, lower than Devon Energy Corp’s (NYSE:DVN) five-year average P/E of 10.84 as well as the industry mean of 10.73. Wall Street analysts have an average price target of $58.45 for Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN), about 20% higher than the stock’s current levels. Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN) has a $3 billion share buyback authorization in place, which is about 10% of its outstanding shares. In the first quarter alone Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN) returned $430 million to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.
As of the end of the first quarter of 2024, 44 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported owning stakes in Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN).
Overall, Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN) ranks 5th on Insider Monkey’s list titled 9 Best AI Energy Infrastructure Stocks to Buy Now. While we acknowledge the potential of Devon Energy Corp (NYSE:DVN), our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than DVN but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.