ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

XOM has been the topic of a number of other reports. TD Cowen lowered their price target on ExxonMobil from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on ExxonMobil from $172.00 to $171.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on ExxonMobil from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on ExxonMobil from $186.00 to $182.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on ExxonMobil from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ExxonMobil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.55.

ExxonMobil Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:XOM opened at $150.61 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $626.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.79. ExxonMobil has a 1 year low of $101.18 and a 1 year high of $176.41. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $154.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $133.61.

ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The oil and gas company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $80.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.98 billion. ExxonMobil had a return on equity of 11.21% and a net margin of 8.68%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that ExxonMobil will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

ExxonMobil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 12th were issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 12th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. ExxonMobil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ExxonMobil news, VP Darrin L. Talley sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.75, for a total value of $698,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 23,584 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,295,864. This represents a 17.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 11,460 shares of company stock valued at $1,687,854 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ExxonMobil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of XOM. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of ExxonMobil by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 215,892 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $24,342,000 after purchasing an additional 5,573 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ExxonMobil by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 231,488 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,857,000 after purchasing an additional 14,233 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ExxonMobil by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 166,547 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $18,778,000 after purchasing an additional 8,853 shares during the last quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of ExxonMobil by 78.3% in the 3rd quarter. HORAN Wealth LLC now owns 13,180 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after purchasing an additional 5,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of ExxonMobil by 46.6% in the 3rd quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 35,160 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $3,997,000 after purchasing an additional 11,177 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting ExxonMobil

Here are the key news stories impacting ExxonMobil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Golden Pass LNG begins exports — Exxon and QatarEnergy shipped the first LNG cargo from the Golden Pass export terminal in Texas, marking the start of commercial exports from a ~18.1 mtpa, three‑train facility and supporting long‑term LNG revenue growth and market share in U.S. gas exports. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Guyana Longtail work advances — ExxonMobil awarded Saipem a $150M contract to advance preliminary detailed engineering and procurement for the Longtail development in Guyana, indicating continued capex deployment and near‑term production growth from a high‑return basin. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades and price‑target lift — Zacks upgraded XOM to a “strong‑buy” and Scotiabank raised its price target to $163 (sector outperform), improving sentiment and potentially attracting more buy‑side interest. Read More. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Plastics pricing tailwind — Exxon is among firms hiking plastics prices amid supply shocks tied to geopolitical tensions; higher downstream pricing can boost margins and cash flow in the chemicals business. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Potential new upstream contracts in Gabon — Gabon expects to sign production‑sharing contracts with BP and Exxon within months, signaling more exploration/development upside in Africa if deals close. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Possible Hong Kong retail sale — Reports say Exxon is considering selling its Hong Kong gas‑station network for roughly $500–$600M; proceeds would be modest versus company scale but could reflect portfolio optimization. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Featured in investor idea pieces — XOM appears in “high‑flying” and income‑focused writeups and options income strategies; these can boost retail interest but are not fundamental catalysts. Read More.

ExxonMobil Company Profile

ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) is an integrated oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, production, refining, distribution and marketing of petroleum products and the manufacture and sale of petrochemicals. Its operations span the full energy value chain, including upstream exploration and development of crude oil and natural gas; midstream transportation and storage; and downstream refining, product distribution and retail. The company also produces a broad range of chemical products for industrial and consumer applications.

ExxonMobil markets fuels and lubricants under well-known brands such as Exxon, Mobil and Esso, and its Mobil 1 motor oil is a prominent consumer product.