ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) Trading Down 1.1% – What’s Next?

ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)’s stock price dropped 1.1% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $162.09 and last traded at $162.28. Approximately 13,313,586 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 18,818,248 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.15.

Key Stories Impacting ExxonMobil

Here are the key news stories impacting ExxonMobil this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Higher oil prices and tighter refining capacity could support near-term earnings. Growth from Guyana and the Permian Basin strengthens ExxonMobil’s production outlook. Can ExxonMobil Benefit From the Current Energy Market Tightness?
• Positive Sentiment: ExxonMobil’s dividend remains a key attraction. The company appears positioned for a 44th consecutive annual payout increase, while second-quarter free cash flow exceeded dividend payments by nearly $13 billion. Management has also indicated that free cash flow could potentially double by 2030. 2 Energy Dividend Stocks With Growing Payouts, Led by ExxonMobil
• Positive Sentiment: Recent investment commentary continues to identify XOM as an attractive value and high-yield income stock, which may support demand from long-term and dividend-focused investors. 2 High-Yield Dividend Stocks Worth Buying Right Now
• Neutral Sentiment: The bullish outlook depends heavily on sustained oil prices and refining tightness. ExxonMobil’s latest reported quarter included earnings per share below consensus, although revenue exceeded expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: ExxonMobil was reportedly excluded from a White House meeting with major oil executives focused on gasoline prices, refinery capacity and retail fuel costs. The exclusion was linked to prior political friction over potential investments in Venezuela, creating concerns about regulatory access and political relations. ExxonMobil Was Excluded From a White House Oil Meeting
• Negative Sentiment: A sharp decline in crude prices remains the primary risk to ExxonMobil’s cash flow, earnings and dividend coverage despite its current financial strength. Exxon’s Dividend Looks Safe Today—but What If Oil Prices Tumble?

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of ExxonMobil in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. HSBC set a $158.00 target price on ExxonMobil in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ExxonMobil to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Bank of America lowered ExxonMobil from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $158.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on ExxonMobil from $155.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ExxonMobil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $167.45.

ExxonMobil Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $661.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $152.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.25.

ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The oil and gas company reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $114.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.94 billion. ExxonMobil had a net margin of 8.88% and a return on equity of 13.14%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that ExxonMobil Corporation will post 11.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ExxonMobil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. ExxonMobil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.02%.

Institutional Trading of ExxonMobil

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in ExxonMobil by 14,136.6% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 696,207,635 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $95,185,508,000 after purchasing an additional 691,317,352 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of ExxonMobil by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 75,152,366 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $9,043,836,000 after buying an additional 1,457,560 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of ExxonMobil in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,625,063,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in ExxonMobil by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 46,605,353 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,608,488,000 after buying an additional 531,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in ExxonMobil by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 44,026,019 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,963,934,000 after acquiring an additional 445,283 shares during the last quarter. 61.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About ExxonMobil

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.