Exxon Mobil (XOM) - Get Report shares made another 52-week high despite persistent low oil prices. They can go even higher.

At a trailing price to earnings multiple of almost 30, compared to a P/E of 21 for the S&P 500 (SPX) index, XOM is no bargan. But its technical chart points to additional gains of around 5% to 10%. Assuming oil prices have reached a near-term bottom, shares should maintain their uptrend and head towards $98 to $100%, yielding 8% to 10% gains.

Exxon shares closed Friday at $90.72. The stock has risen 16.38% year to date, including almost 8% gains in the past three months. This compares with 1.33% year-to-date rise in the S&P 500 index and a 10.89% year-to-date rise Energy Select Sector SPDR (ETF) (XLE) - Get Report .

Exxon's outperformance against the XLE stands out even more, given the stock's consensus hold rating and the fact that shares are now more 5% above their consensus 12-month price target of $86. The stock has separated from the oil industry's fundamental metrics. In other words, with oil prices trending lower, analysts are likely just as surprised by the stock's recent run. And from a technical perspective, the chart below, courtesy of TradingView, signs of slowing down.

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The stock has taken out each obstacle in its way, delivering some 24% gains since reaching its January low at $73.13. What's more, since the middle of April, XOM shares have moved beyond just consolidation towards and carried both its 50-day (pink line) and 100-day (yellow line) moving averages on a path resembling a straight line. What happened? Exxon, which boosted its dividend payout by 2.7% earlier this year, has figured out it can use its cash to reward patient shareholders. The rest of the market took notice.

This is where Exxon's fundamentals, particularly its diversified business (upstream and downstream) has given it an advantage over the its peers, including those in the XLE. Technically, with the stock now firmly above the 20-day average (blue line), support is now at around $90 (solid blue line) with resistance around $91.22 (red line). Oil prices no longer matters. The charts say XOM will break $91 on its way to $93. Once it gets there, resistance become $98.50, yielding 8.5% gains

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.