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After spending the past several months at a four-star rank, enough top-performing CAPS members have turned bullish on Devon Energy (NYSE:DVN) recently to upgrade it to a top-rated five stars. A total of 1,799 members have given their opinion on Devon Energy, with many of them offering analysis and commentary explaining the recent optimism.

While other oil plays such as McMoRan Exploration (NYSE:MMR), Energy XXI, Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC), and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) are pushing forward with their strategies in the Gulf of Mexico, Devon Energy is looking to make a clean exit from its Gulf of Mexico and international assets to focus exclusively on its onshore North American operations. The effort to shrink runs counter to intuition, but many CAPS members think it's the right strategy to grow a more profitable company.

And Devon is already making some progress with its agreement to sell its stake in Petrobras' (NYSE:PBR) Cascade project and a couple of other Gulf oil fields to A.P. Moller-Maersk Group for $1.3 billion. And it is targeting to complete the sale of the rest of its assets outside of North America by the third quarter.

Unconventional resource plays are becoming more attractive for companies like ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), which recently agreed to snap up XTO Energy (NYSE:XTO). Devon also sees plenty of opportunity in its North American shale plays that have lower risk and better rates of return than its offshore and international assets. By making the divestures, Devon will be shedding just a small percentage of reserves and production while lowering its capital expenditure budget by nearly a third.

Do you think Devon Energy deserves its raised status? Add your thoughts in the comments box below on this page, or head over to CAPS to rate the company and check out all the information and opinions the community offers, absolutely free.