Quant Billionaire Jim Simons Loves These 5 Defensive Stocks

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In this article, we discuss 5 defensive stocks that quant billionaire Jim Simons loves. If you want to read about some more stocks in the Simons portfolio, go directly to Quant Billionaire Jim Simons Loves These 10 Defensive Stocks.

5. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 72    

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas. Regulatory filings reveal that Renaissance Technologies owned over 7.1 million shares of Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) at the end of June 2022 worth $612 million, representing 0.72% of the total portfolio. The firm is placed fifth on our list of defensive stocks in the portfolio of quant billionaire Jim Simons. 

On September 12, Piper Sandler analyst Ryan Todd maintained an Overweight rating on Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) stock and lowered the price target to $108 from $109, noting that despite inflation risk, there was no change to strategic priorities across the upstream coverage.

Among the hedge funds being tracked by Insider Monkey, Florida-based investment firm GQG Partners is a leading shareholder in Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), with 47.5 million shares worth more than $4.1 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 industrywide 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.”

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