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Keep an Eye on These 3 Energy Majors With Fortress Balance Sheet

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The initial pandemic period, when there were no vaccines, saw an environment of heightened uncertainties. The price of crude oil plunged to a negative $36.98 per barrel on Apr 20, 2020. However, with the rapid developments of vaccines, which led to the gradual opening of the economies, the pricing scenario of West Texas Intermediate crude improved drastically over time to reach $123.64 per barrel on Mar 8, 2022. Oil price data are per the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Currently, the WTI oil price is trading at more than $80 per barrel. The decision of OPEC+ panel to maintain the oil production cut, suggesting tight market supplies, is primarily aiding the crude price.

Thus, it’s pretty apparent that the business model of most energy players, by nature, is exposed to extreme volatility in commodity prices. Energy companies with robust balance sheets will be better positioned to navigate these uncertainties.

Hence, it would be wise for investors to keep an eye on promising stocks like Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM - Free Report) , Chevron Corporation (CVX - Free Report) and ConocoPhillips (COP - Free Report) . All the stocks carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) and have significantly lower debt exposure than the composite stocks belonging to the respective industries.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Chevron and ExxonMobil have strong balance sheets, hence they can withstand adverse business environments. While XOM has a total debt-to-capitalization of 16.7%, the metric for CVX is 11.9%. Compared to the 24.8% debt-to-capitalization of composite stocks belonging to the Zacks Oil & Gas Integrated International industry, ExxonMobil and Chevron are better off.

In fact, both the leading integrated energy companies have been consistently witnessing lower debt-to-capitalization ratios than the industry over the past three years. 

ConocoPhillips has achieved a promising production outlook by leveraging its extensive drilling inventory and diversified upstream assets. Compared to composite stocks belonging to the industry, the leading upstream energy company has considerably lower exposure to debt capital. This reflects that the company is better positioned to rely on its strong balance sheet to withstand any adverse business scenario.


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Chevron Corporation (CVX) - free report >>

Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) - free report >>

ConocoPhillips (COP) - free report >>

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