What happened
Energy sector blue chip stock ExxonMobil (XOM 0.02%) did on Thursday what a blue chip is supposed to do -- bump higher in price. The company's shares added nearly 2% to their value on the day, eclipsing the 0.3% bump experienced by the S&P 500 index. Investors were satisfied with a price target raise from an analyst at a top bank, and by news of a looming asset sale.
So what
Before market open, JPMorgan Chase's (JPM 0.49%) Phil Gresh upped his level on ExxonMobil. Although the move was small -- his new price target is $119 per share, a slight improvement over the previous $117 -- Gresh is maintaining his quite bullish stance by sticking with his recommendation of overweight (buy, in other words).
Gresh isn't the only pundit getting more positive on ExxonMobil these days. On Monday, Mizuho's Nitin Kumar upgraded his recommendation on the stock to buy from neutral, cranking his price target well higher to $140 per share from its preceding $90.
Kumar is particularly encouraged by the energy giant's ability to collect greenbacks, writing in an analyst note that across the next few years "it is hard to construct a realistic scenario where the company will not be a leader in cash generation."
Now what
Also on Thursday, ExxonMobil announced that an affiliated business is selling just under 66% of Esso Thailand to that country's Bangchak Corporation. It did not specify a price for the divestment, but did say the sale is expected to close in the second half of 2023.
In its press release on the arrangement, the company quoted its president of product solutions Karen McKee as saying that this ties into its strategy of "focusing its investments on global production facilities to meet the world's demand for lower-emissions fuels and high-performance products, while divesting assets where others see the potential for greater value."
