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Exxon Mobil [ XOM 60.75 
+0.20 (+0.33%) ], the biggest publicly traded company on the globe, is up a meager 3 percent since the S&P 500 hit a 12-year bottom one year ago. The stock is badly trailing its own industry as well, with an index of energy stocks in the S&P 500 [ .SPX 1098.87 +7.03 (+0.64%) ] up about 40 percent. The commodity Exxon peddles has surged more than 70 percent in 12 months.
“Money managers want a high beta energy play when oil starts to take off,” said Joe Terranova, Chief Market Strategist at Virtus Investment Partners. “It’s become a defensive energy name where investors hide out.”
The higher oil prices ironically hurt Exxon in the fourth quarter of last year as the raw commodity increased, but global demand for oil did not. Without the demand, Exxon was unable to pass the higher prices on to customers and it seriously crimped Exxon’s refining margins. Exxon’s net income fell 23 percent in the last quarter of 2009.
Investors are also unhappy with Exxon’s purchase of natural gas player XTO Energy [ XTO 3738.666 +36.923 (+1.00%) ] for $41 billion in December, its biggest takeover in a 10 years. The shares are down 20 percent since the announcement of that deal.
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