Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) Trades at Reasonable Valuation; Stable Energy Company

July 15, 2013

Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) is one of the most stable energy companies, with a large diversification, trading at a reasonable valuation, and it offers downside protection through the sale of options, says Kirk Mentzer, Senior Vice President and Director of Research at Huntington Private Financial Group.

“I’m not going to move the market in Exxon. The idea here is that the valuations look reasonable, and they have a bias toward natural gas. Natural gas prices are just now starting to pick up a little bit. The play here is their diversification in the energy markets. They have been one of the most steady energy companies. When I’m looking at the process of going through the quantitative measures, the yield is about 2.8%, and it’s just a good, steady player and high quality,” Mentzer said.

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Mentzer says he can add value to his XOM ownership through the use of cover call options. He says he can add value this way, and he uses this strategy to gain some incremental return.

“The dividend’s only $0.63 a share; if I can gain a couple dollars on an option, wait that out for a couple of months, maybe I pick up another dividend, and if the stock just stays where it’s at, I still come out ahead. If it drops, then I keep the option income. It’s really capital, but I look at it as additional return for the shareholder,” Mentzer said.