Crude oil, and by extension oil companies, were taken out and shot last year. Nevertheless one of my top picks for the coming year is ExxonMobil (XOM), suggests Kelley Wright, dividend expert and editor of Investment Quality Trends.

Okay, so ExxonMobil is a massive company that isn’t very nimble, which makes sense when you’re talking about the equivalent of an aircraft carrier.

What ExxonMobil is though is competent and manages their vast assets with an eye always toward the future. I don’t see a recession on the horizon, let alone a depression, which ExxonMobil is priced at currently.

Economies sometime take a pause, which is normal and healthy. Also, unless there is some viable economic alternative to fossil fuel coming I’m not aware of, the world will continue to run on energy.

ExxonMobil's historically repetitive high-yield is 3.0%, which at the current cash dividend of $3.28 is realized at $109 per share. Trading recently at just over $69 per share with a dividend yield of 4.75%, the stock is an outstanding long-term value.

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