5 Best Income Stocks To Invest In

2. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 72

Dividend Yield as of October 19: 3.42%

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), the American energy giant, is one of the top income stocks to invest in. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) has increased its annual dividend payments to shareholders for 39 consecutive years and it is one of the most prominent dividend aristocrats to consider. The company delivers a dividend yield of 3.42% as of October 19. 

Jefferies analyst Lloyd Byrne on October 18 upgraded Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) to Buy from Hold with a price target of $133, up from $90. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) invested through the cycle, while the rest of the industry restricted capital, said the analyst. Capital expenditure paired with increasing commodity prices allows Exxon to de-lever and position for growth in both the Upstream and Downstream segments, the analyst told investors.

According to Insider Monkey’s data, 72 hedge funds were bullish on Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) at the end of June 2022, compared to 83 funds in the prior quarter. Rajiv Jain’s GQG Partners is the largest stakeholder of the company, with 47.5 million shares worth over $4 billion. 

In its Q2 2022 investor letter, First Eagle Investments, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“Integrated oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) performed well in the second quarter as continued high prices for energy products supported the stock. As the largest refiner in the US, the company has benefitted from wide “crack spreads,” or the margin between the cost of crude oil and the petroleum products extracted from it. Exxon continues to invest in refining capacity in the US, which industry wide has been in steady decline since 2019. We are pleased that Exxon has been using its strong cash flows to reduce debt and to return cash to shareholders through dividends and stock repurchases.”