With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 20.6x Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) may be sending bearish signals...: With a price-to-earnings (or "P/E") ratio of 20.6x Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) may be sending bearish signals at the moment, given that almost half of all companies in the United States have P/E ratios under 17x and even P/E's lower than 9x are not unusual. However, the P/E might be high for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified. With earnings that are retreating more than the market's of late, Exxon Mobil has been very sluggish.