UPDATE: Raymond James Upgrades Exxon Mobil to Strong Buy, Cites Stock's Recent Underperformance, Strong Free Cash Flow

In a report published Friday, Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov upgraded his investment rating on Exxon Mobil XOM from Outperform to Strong Buy. The analyst maintains a $98 price target on the stock. Molchanov cited a year of underperformance. The Raymond James analyst is anticipating strong free cash flow for 2014. Molchanov noted “Using our $95/Bbl Brent forecast for 2014, the FCF yield of 4.9% compares to the mega-cap peer average of 2.7%. Importantly, this does not ascribe any credit for capital spending reductions in 2014, which we think are realistic given that four of Exxon's top projects of this decade (Kearl, Kashagan, Gorgon LNG, PNG LNG) are either completed or close to it.” At last look, Exxon shares were up 0.49 percent to $85.92.