Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $130.21.

A number of brokerages have commented on XOM. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Exxon Mobil from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $129.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Exxon Mobil from $118.00 to $120.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $120.00 target price (up previously from $119.00) on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Tuesday, September 24th.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

Shares of XOM opened at $121.79 on Tuesday. Exxon Mobil has a one year low of $95.77 and a one year high of $126.34. The company has a market cap of $535.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $119.39 and a 200-day moving average of $116.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.01. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 14.73% and a net margin of 9.61%. The firm had revenue of $90.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Exxon Mobil will post 7.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.99 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. This is a positive change from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.32%.

Institutional Trading of Exxon Mobil

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 18.2% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 2,684 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Exxon Mobil during the 1st quarter valued at $933,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 925,591 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $107,591,000 after acquiring an additional 49,083 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 28.9% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,252 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ossiam boosted its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1,166.2% in the first quarter. Ossiam now owns 200,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $23,248,000 after acquiring an additional 184,205 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Exxon Mobil Company Profile

Exxon Mobil Corporation engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and internationally. It operates through Upstream, Energy Products, Chemical Products, and Specialty Products segments. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas.