With rising oil demand, lower-than-expected oil supplies and a weakening dollar driving oil prices higher, Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) might be in an advantageous position to capitalize.
The XOM share price just recovered from the steady drop in the first half of 2017 and closed on January 12, 2018, at $87.52, which was 0.2% higher than its $87.36 share price from January 17, 2017. However, after bottoming out at $76.10 on August 30, 2017, the company’s share price reversed course and has risen more than 15% since the beginning of September 2017.
Michael Kramer, the founder of Mott Capital Management LLC, suggests that that Exon Mobil could extend this uptrend and add as much as 20% over the long term. Technical analysis indicates that – after breaking through the resistance at $62 – oil prices could rise unimpeded at least until the next resistance level at $76. A recent article in Barron’s projected similarly that oil prices could reach $80 in 2018.
While unforeseen global events might interfere with oil price growth, for the time being the current uptrend seems to be on stable footing. In addition to driving the share price of oil exploration companies and refineries higher, the current oil price growth is supporting share price growth in the entire energy sector.
Along with Exxon Mobil’s rising share price, the company continues its record of hiking its annual dividend distribution, which currently stands at 35 consecutive years. For 2017, XOM paid a $3.08 annual dividend per share and that amount currently yields 3.52%.
