When investors think of safe stocks to generate dividend income, stable stalwarts like Coca-Cola or Procter & Gamble may come to mind. And while those companies are good options for risk-averse investors, there are arguably even more attractive opportunities outside the consumer staples sector.
ExxonMobil (XOM -1.31%) has paid and raised its dividends for 42 consecutive years. According to the company, only 4% of S&P 500 components have streaks at least as long.
Here's why ExxonMobil is a safe, no-brainer dividend stock to buy now.
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Delivering on expectations
The integrated energy giant lays out clear medium-term and long-term expectations for investors in its annual corporate plan (usually updated in December). It's a must-read if you're looking to build an investment thesis for ExxonMobil stock. The plan outlines the company's targets for capital spending, earnings, and cash flow projections based on oil and natural gas price ranges, low-carbon investments, emissions reduction plans, cost-saving efforts, and more. This provides a yardstick for investors to measure progress against.
It is management's way of telling investors its intentions and putting the spotlight on what the company can control, rather than what it can't -- market dynamics and fluctuations in oil and natural gas prices. In its latest update, ExxonMobil increased structural cost savings by $7 billion -- bringing total structural cost savings to $18 billion by 2030 (from a 2019 base). These savings were at $11 billion as of Q3 2024. But as of the end of Q1 2025, they were at $12.7 billion -- showing that ExxonMobil is progressing nicely toward its 2030 target.
ExxonMobil also outlined intentions to invest $27 billion to $29 billion in capital expenditures in 2025 and then ramp annual capex to a range of $28 billion to $33 billion in the years from 2026 to 2030 as it pursues long-term opportunities and works to grow its cash flow -- including up to $30 billion in lower-emission investment opportunities.
On its first-quarter earnings call, ExxonMobil reaffirmed its 2025 capex guidance despite lower oil prices. It also outlined plans to reduce its breakeven operating figure to $35 per barrel of Brent crude oil by 2027 and $30 per barrel by 2030. At the time of this writing, Brent prices are around $65 per barrel, which is significantly down from its 52-week peak in the neighborhood of $87 per barrel but up from its 52-week low of around $60 per barrel earlier this month.
ExxonMobil plans to reduce its breakeven level through structural cost savings and by investing in what it calls "advantaged assets" -- high-margin plays in the Permian Basin, offshore of Guyana, and ExxonMobil's growing liquefied natural gas investments.
On its first-quarter earnings call, ExxonMobil said that advantaged assets make up around half of its production -- which has averaged 4.6 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) so far in 2025. The company plans to increase production to 5.4 million boe/d by 2030, with advantaged assets growing to account for 60% of the total output. This means that advantaged assets will jump from current levels of around 2.3 million boe/d to around 3.2 million boe/d by 2030, accounting for all of the production growth during that period and implying a slight decline in output from non-advantaged assets.
Doubling down on advantaged assets and reducing its overall breakeven level per barrel should help ExxonMobil fund its long-term investments and support its massive capital return program even at lower oil prices.
ExxonMobil rewards its shareholders in multiple ways
In the first quarter, ExxonMobil returned more than $9 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks. In its corporate plan, the company announced its intentions to repurchase $20 billion in stock in 2025 and 2026. Throw in about $4.3 billion in dividends per quarter, and that brings ExxonMobil's annual capital return program to more than $37 billion -- which is around 8% of its market cap. You would be hard-pressed to find many companies in ExxonMobil's size range returning that much capital to shareholders without compromising their financial health.
ExxonMobil exited Q1 with a net-debt-to-capital ratio of 7%. The net-debt-to-capital ratio is calculated by taking net debt (debt minus cash and cash equivalents) and dividing it by net debt plus stockholders' equity. For context, Chevron (CVX -0.95%) has a net debt ratio, which factors in marketable securities (and makes the ratio even lower) of 14.4% -- which is excellent for a capital-intensive energy company. So the fact that ExxonMobil is at just 7% is a testament to how much it has improved its balance sheet in recent years.
Here's a look at how ExxonMobil's debt-to-capital ratio (without factoring in cash and cash equivalents) compares to the ratios of other integrated oil majors. Notice that ExxonMobil and Chevron are consistently lower than their European peers.
Data by YCharts.
Load up on this reliable dividend stock
ExxonMobil continues to deliver strong earnings and gobs of free cash flow, which it passes along to shareholders through buybacks and dividends.
Efficiency improvements through structural cost savings and a focus on advantaged assets with low production costs will continue reducing ExxonMobil's average breakeven price per barrel, which will allow it to make long-term investments and support its capital return program even during periods of lower oil and gas prices.
ExxonMobil's latest results and the progress it's making toward the goals outlined in its corporate plan illustrate why the stock is a rock-solid choice for income investors. With a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.4 and a dividend yield of 3.7% at the current share price, ExxonMobil is a compelling value that offers investors a high yield they can count on even if oil prices remain at mediocre levels.
