Is Exxon Mobil stock finally on the upswing?

With crude oil prices rallying earlier this week to its highest levels since 2014, many analysts are feeling bullish about Exxon Mobil ahead of its first-quarter earnings report on Friday despite the company’s status as stock laggard.

Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov recently upgraded the stock from underperform to market perform and said the company could return to share buybacks in the near future.

“The stock has been a useful source of funds throughout the oil market recovery over the past two years, particularly with the dreadful production metrics (most noticeably in European gas), but at this point we think that this relative short has largely run its course," Molchanov wrote in a research note.

Molchanov added that the company’s dividend yield has widened to a near-record level of 3.9%

Bank of America analyst Doug Leggate is also optimistic, giving the company a buy rating and predicting that it will report earnings per share of $1.05, compared with the consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $1.03.

"We believe the dislocation of XOM's share price following a [fourth-quarter] earnings miss that coincided with a broader market correction leaves XOM amongst the most undervalued of the large-cap U.S. oils," Leggate said in a research note. He added that the oil and gas giant should generate enough free cash flow this year to support its current 3.9% dividend yield and restart share buybacks.BP and Hess are among the companies that have announced buybacks in recent months.

Over the past four years, Exxon Mobil's stock has tumbled almost 25%.