- Exxon Mobil (XOM -1.1%) has gained 14% in the past 12 months, and the strong performance prompts Citigroup’s Faisel Kahn to downgrade shares to Neutral from Buy.
- XOM has been rising on expectations for a recovery from a difficult year for production and a record level of refining maintenance that weighed on 2013 earnings, but the firm believes this is now largely priced into the stock.
- However, Citi raises its price targets for XOM, Chevron (CVX -0.7%), ConocoPhillips (COP +0.1%) and Occidental Petroleum (OXY -0.2%) largely based on a reduction of its cost of capital assumptions and the approaching start-up of many large scale upstream projects.