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Reuben Gregg Brewer, The Motley Fool
Sun, Mar 16, 2025, 8:00 AM 4 min read
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ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) shares person pulled backmost astir 10% oregon truthful from their post-pandemic peak. That puts them a small beneath $115 per share. So is it a bully clip to bargain this energy giant, oregon should investors hold for a amended introduction point? Here's a look astatine each broadside of the story.
Before getting into whether Exxon is simply a bargain beneath $115 per share, it pays to get a speedy knowing of Exxon's business. From a big-picture perspective, it is 1 of the largest integrated vigor companies connected the planet, sporting a humongous $475 cardinal marketplace capitalization. The cardinal to its concern attack is diversification.
Exxon produces lipid and earthy state from onshore and offshore developments. It transports these commodities done its midstream systems. And it processes lipid and state astatine its chemicals and refining plants.
It has facilities each implicit the world, truthful its concern isn't conscionable dispersed crossed the assorted segments of the vigor manufacture -- it is besides dispersed crossed the globe. All this helps to soften the inherent swings successful the highly volatile vigor sector.
All in, Exxon is simply a reasonably coagulated prime for investors seeking retired vigor exposure. That would beryllium conscionable arsenic existent contiguous arsenic it would beryllium erstwhile lipid prices were astatine all-time highs oregon all-time lows. This is wherever the existent contented comes successful with respect to buying the banal close now.
Exxon is built from the crushed up to past the swings successful vigor prices. That not lone includes its concern model, but besides its equilibrium sheet.
The company's debt-to-equity ratio is among the lowest successful its closest adjacent group. That gives absorption the leeway to instrumentality connected indebtedness during the hard times truthful it tin support backing its concern and supporting the dividend. When vigor prices recover, arsenic they ever have, leverage is reduced successful mentation for the adjacent downturn.
The impervious that this attack works is recovered successful the company's awesome 42-year streak of yearly dividend increases. Clearly, if you're looking astatine the vigor assemblage today, Exxon seems similar it is acceptable to woody with immoderate comes its way. That's important, fixed the expanding geopolitical tensions successful the world. If lipid prices get volatile, Exxon could beryllium a comparatively harmless harbor successful a stormy sea.
That said, if you aren't successful the marketplace for vigor vulnerability close now, you mightiness privation to clasp disconnected connected buying Exxon. The crushed is besides tied to the company's reliable dividend and beardown concern model. Look astatine the illustration -- Exxon's output goes up erstwhile its terms goes down. That's the basal mathematics of dividend yields, of course, but it points retired thing precise important here.