energy has been the bestperforming sector by a long mile this year and thats despite a strong broadbased stock market rally so far in the second half even so one energy stock stands out among its peers for its strongest balance sheet in the industry according to citi saudi aramco in 2q produced a new quarterly record buoyed by exceptional margins across both its upstream and downstream portfolio the worlds largest energy company continues to run unquestionably the strongest balance in the industry giving support to both an expansive capital programme and potential for higher distributions back to shareholders citis analysts led by alastair syme said on aug 15 the oil giant had a record second quarter as it delivered net income of 484 billion up from 255 billion a year earlier handily beating analysts consensus estimate of 462 billion our record secondquarter results reflect increasing demand for our products particularly as a lowcost producer with one of the lowest upstream carbon intensities in the industry said saudi aramcos president and ceo amin nasser in the companys earnings report  for the half year ended june the company achieved net income of 879 billion up from 472 billion in the same period a year ago saudi aramcos blowout results easily eclipsed that of its major listed peers such as exxonmobil  bp and chevron all of which posted strong secondquarter results oil companies have benefited from soaring crude prices which briefly surged above 130 a barrel earlier this year but have since come off their highs to trade at below 100 a barrel currently strongest balance sheet citis analysts said that saudi aramco will raise capital expenditure over the coming years to drive unchanged growth ambitions in oil gas and chemicals which will be well supported by its strong balance sheet the balance sheet 01x net debttrailing cffo provides flexibility to support these spending plans even in a lower macro syme said the net debttrailing cash flow from operations ratio measures the ability of a company to pay off its debt using cash flow from its operations a lower ratio indicates that a company is better positioned to service its debts from its cash flow the industrys average ratio is 037 according to factset read more jpmorgan says the growth stocks rally has further to go and explains when it will likely end ‘don’t be a hero’ investment pro reveals how to play the market names the stocks she’s buying how to reduce risk in your portfolio right now according to the pros shares of saudi aramco are up around 234 this year on the saudi stock exchange citi has a price target of 42 saudi riyal 1120 on the stock which closed at 392 saudi riyal on aug 21 representing a potential upside of 7 with the limited upside it is perhaps no wonder that citis analysts warned that the stock looks expensive relative to its peers to the extent that valuation matters in the oil sector – and there is not strong empirical evidence that in the current market it does – the challenge remains that aramco is an expensive equity within the context of the global oil group on most metrics syme said that said few companies in the global oil space offer investors long term portfolio visibility alongside clear ambitions to grow its business across the value chain he added it was reported earlier this year that the company was considering the sale of more shares in what would be its largest sale ever on the saudi tadawul as well as a secondary listing in london or singapore