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Exxon Mobil

Commanding a market cap of over $470 billion, Exxon Mobil (XOM) has been a stellar performer amid this stock market rout.

Shares are up 46% over the past year, in stark contrast to the S&P 500’s 10% decline over the same period.

It’s not hard to see why investors like the stock: the oil-producing giant gushes profits and cash flow thanks to a favorable commodity price environment. In 2022, Exxon earned $55.7 billion in profits, a huge increase from $23.0 billion in 2021. Free cash flow totaled $62.1 billion for the year, compared to $37.9 billion in 2021.

Solid financials allow the company to return cash to investors. In 2022, Exxon spent $14.9 billion on buybacks.

The company also pays quarterly dividends of 91 cents per share, translating to an annual yield of 3.2%.

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Chevron

Chevron (CVX) is another oil and gas giant benefiting from the commodity boom.

The company reported earnings of $35.5 billion for 2022, which represented a 127% increase from 2021. Sales and other operating revenues totaled $235.7 billion for 2022, up 51% year over year.

Last month, Chevron’s board approved a 6% increase to the quarterly dividend rate to $1.51 per share. That gives the company an annual dividend yield of 3.6%. The board also approved a new $75 billion stock buyback program.

The stock has enjoyed a nice rally too, climbing 23% in the last 12 months.

In 2022, Chevron repurchased nearly 70 million shares for $11.25 billion.

ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips (COP) is smaller than Exxon and Chevron in terms of market cap. But with proven reserves of 6.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent, it’s still a major player in the hydrocarbon exploration and production business.

And business is doing well. Full-year 2022 earnings came in at $18.7 billion for the company, $10.6 higher than in 2021. Excluding special items, adjusted earnings were $17.3 billion for 2022, also a huge improvement from the $8.0 billion generated in 2021.

ConocoPhillips returns cash to investors through ordinary dividends, a variable return of cash, and share buybacks.

In 2022, the company’s ordinary dividends and variable return of cash totaled $5.7 billion. It returned another $9.3 billion to investors through share repurchases.

The company is scheduled to pay an ordinary dividend of 51 cents per share on Mar. 1 and a variable return of cash of 60 cents per share on Apr. 14.

ConocoPhillips shares have climbed 18% over the past year.

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About the Author

Jing Pan

Jing Pan

Investment Reporter

Jing is an investment reporter for MoneyWise. He is an avid advocate of investing for passive income. Despite the ups and downs he’s been through with the markets, Jing believes that you can generate a steadily increasing income stream by investing in high quality companies.

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