JPMorgan analyst Arun Jayaram upgraded EOG Resources (EOG) to Overweight from Neutral and raised his price target for the shares to $118 from $117. The analyst reshuffled his Large Cap Exploration & Production ratings to reflect changes in the macro environment. He likes EOG's "more defensive tilt" and expects the shares to outperform the peer group assuming oil prices remain near strip levels. Jayaram also downgraded Devon Energy (DVN) to Neutral from Overweight and Chesapeake Energy (CHK) to Underweight from Neutral.

Piper Sandler analyst Mark Lear raised the firm's price target on Devon Energy to $60 from $59 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares as part of a Q1 preview for the exploration and production group. Energy has been hot, almost too hot, as $90 crude potentially cools the pace of consolidation and investors looking for ways to play the data center and power demand theme turn to gas equities, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm adjusted oil and gas price assumptions, expecting crude pricing to remain strong through Q3 and gas pricing pressure to persist through the balance of fiscal 2024.