Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Raised to “Sector Outperform” at Scotiabank

Scotiabank upgraded shares of Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Scotiabank currently has $145.00 target price on the oil and gas company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $129.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Exxon Mobil in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an outperform rating and a $146.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Exxon Mobil from $139.00 to $138.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Exxon Mobil from $121.00 to $117.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $131.88.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

Shares of XOM opened at $123.61 on Thursday. Exxon Mobil has a 1 year low of $95.77 and a 1 year high of $126.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $487.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.34.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.10. Exxon Mobil had a net margin of 9.73% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $93.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Exxon Mobil will post 8.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Exxon Mobil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Exxon Mobil

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Exxon Mobil by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 388,543,396 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $38,846,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269,495 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 6.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,161,783 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,249,607,000 after buying an additional 2,676,652 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Exxon Mobil by 11.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 40,312,338 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,640,756,000 after acquiring an additional 4,080,716 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 16.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 36,794,077 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,235,972,000 after acquiring an additional 5,330,887 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Exxon Mobil by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 32,308,002 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,719,296,000 after purchasing an additional 5,235,607 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.