Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Trading 3% Higher on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM)’s share price traded up 3% during trading on Monday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $118.64 and last traded at $118.42. Approximately 3,887,146 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 16,373,870 shares. The stock had previously closed at $114.95.

The oil and gas company reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.01. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 9.73%. The business had revenue of $90.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.98 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Exxon Mobil’s payout ratio is 45.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on XOM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Exxon Mobil from $139.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $127.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Exxon Mobil from $118.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Exxon Mobil from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.95.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Exxon Mobil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Patron Partners LLC lifted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 37,297 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,294,000 after buying an additional 2,564 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Exxon Mobil by 5.9% in the second quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 32,751 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,770,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in Exxon Mobil by 79.4% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 859,226 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $98,914,000 after purchasing an additional 380,399 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in Exxon Mobil by 64.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 967,618 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $111,392,000 after purchasing an additional 379,747 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 2.8% during the first quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 135,391 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $15,738,000 after acquiring an additional 3,680 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Exxon Mobil Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $466.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

About Exxon Mobil

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.