The company last week reported second-quarter 2021 adjusted earnings per share that comfortably beat the consensus forecast. Further, the figure significantly improved from an adjusted per-share loss a year ago. Goldman Sachs said this when discussing the stellar results:

Following a strong quarter, with earnings-per-share, production and cash flow coming in higher versus Goldman and Wall Street estimates, we continue to see substantial cash generation allowing for compelling shareholder returns and with return on capital employed inflecting to ~18% on average in 2023-2026 vs. the 10-year historical average of 8%.

Investors in ConocoPhillips stock receive a healthy 3.04% dividend. The Goldman Sachs price target for the stock is $68 a share, though the Wall Street consensus price target is higher at $73.86. The shares ended Friday’s trading at $56.50 apiece.

Devon Energy

This stock may be offering one of the best value propositions among the Goldman Sachs picks. Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) is an independent energy company that primarily engages in the exploration, development and production of oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) in the United States and Canada. It operates approximately 19,000 wells.

The company also offers midstream energy services, including gathering, transmission, processing, fractionation and marketing to producers of natural gas, NGLs, crude oil and condensate through its natural gas pipelines, plants and treatment facilities.

Production is weighted toward crude oil while growth opportunities are liquids focused, anchored by the Delaware Basin, SCOOP/STACK, Eagle Ford Shale, Canadian Oil Sands, and the Barnett. Devon also owns equity in the publicly traded midstream master limited partnership EnLink.

The company also posted strong results, and the analysts noted this:

Devon reported second quarter adjusted EPS/EBITDA of $0.60/$1.18 billion vs. our estimate of $0.52/$1.12 billion and Factset consensus of $0.52/$1.11 billion. Results were above our and consensus estimates driven by stronger production (2%/3% above Goldman Sachs and/consensus respectively) and better cash costs. Additionally, the company announced a second quarter dividend of $0.49/share (including a $0.38/share variable dividend) which was $0.11 per share above our expectations driven by stronger free-cash-flow generation.