Top 3 US oil stocks to buy in April as crude prices surge

The crude oil price has been on a winning streak lately, with brent crude oil reaching a high of over $91 per barrel today, its highest price since October last year.

All in all, the crude oil price has gained more than 8% in the past month. And, leading the supply charge of oil around the world currently, is the United States.

With this in mind, here are the top U.S. oil stocks to think of investing in this April:

1. Marathon Petroleum Corporation
2. ExxonMobil Corporation
3. Targa Resources Corporation

1. Marathon Petroleum Corp

Marathon Petroleum, the Ohio-based oil conglomerate dating all the way back to the 1880s, is sprinting ahead of the competition this April.

The Marathon stock price is up 23.45% in the past month, 42% this year to date so far, and a staggering 63% in the past year.

 So impressive has Marathon’s track record been of late, it’s been commented on by Yahoo Finance, Simply Wall Street and MarketWatch, among others.

Banking tycoon Wells Fargo has allegedly also recently raised its stock in Marathon.

Another reason to look into Marathon this April? The company’s next financial results (for Q1 FY2025) are due to be announced on April 30^th.

2. ExxonMobil Corp

ExxonMobil, the big oil Texan stock, needs no introduction.

But while the company has experienced an impressive 17% rise in its stock price in 2024 so far, global conflicts like those in the Middle East have taken their toll. Exxon’s share price is up just 2.33% in the past year, which is a far cry from Marathon’s ascension.

So, why is it on this list?

A huge factor in choosing any stock to buy, for many investors, is dividends. And few companies pay dividends better than ExxonMobil, which made the news at the beginning of the year with their record highest-ever payout.

ExxonMobil is actually considered a ‘dividend aristocrat’, having paid a higher dividend than the previous quarter, consistently, for more than 40 years.

And according to its recent filing with the SEC, ExxonMobil will announce its Q1 financial results on April 26^th.

3. Targa Resources Corp

Listed on the NYSE, Targa may not be the first US oil stock that comes to mind – but that doesn’t mean the company isn’t making impressive returns happen.

The Targa Resources stock price, at just over $114 per share currently, has risen by almost 12% in the past month and a whopping 51.92% in the past year.

Compare this with the similarly-priced Chevron Corporation, which has a stock price up 7% in the past month, but down 5.4% in the past year. 

Targa’s dividends are also nothing to be sneezed at. Its last dividend paid $0.50 per common share, or $2.00 per common share on an annualized basis, to shareholders on February 15th, with the next one expected sometime in May.