The Dividend Daily

Analysts at Soleil Securities on Monday reiterated their “Buy” rating on the world’s largest publicly-traded oil company, Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM).

The analyst lowered its price target on XOM, however, to $87 from $90. Exxon shares had closed at $71.67 on Friday.

Soleil noted that “We are lowering our earnings estimates for Exxon Mobil for 2009 (from $4.10/share to $4.00/share) and 2010 (from $6.60/share to $6.20/share) due primarily to the decline in NYMEX forward curve price assumptions for crude oil, natural gas and refining margins. We maintain our Buy rating, but are reducing our discounted free cash flow derived price target from $90/share to $87/share.”

Exxon shares rose 93 cents, or +1.2%, in morning trading Monday.

The Bottom Line
We had removed shares of XOM from our “recommended” list July 31, when shares traded at $84.38. The company has a dividend yield of 2.34%, based on Friday’s closing stock price of $71.67. The stock has technical support in the $66-$70 price area. If the stock can firm up, we see overhead resistance around the $77-$80 levels. We would remain on the sidelines for now.

Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks, as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here.