Seeking Alpha Seeking Alpha Portfolio App for iPad  Total SA
(TOT) is a major French oil and natural gas company that has a
myriad of very appealing features for investors, particularly
with its recent price drop.  Over the last week, Total SA has
fallen more than 5% due to a gas leak at the Elgin Field in the
North Sea. If Total continues to fall, it should be viewed as a
buying opportunity to establish a long term holding.  Now
trading around $52.30, Total SA has a mean analyst target price
of $63.18 for the next year. Its dividend yield is 5.92%. (The
average dividend paid by a stock on the Standard & Poor's 500
Index is around 2%. ExxonMobil (XOM) pays a dividend of just
2.17%).  The price-to-earnings ratio for Total SA is 7.04. That
is expected to fall over the next year to 6.66. The price-to-
earnings ratio for Exxon Mobil is 10.30, while the average
price-to-earnings ratio for a stock on the Standard & Poors 500
Index is around 15.  Foreign oil companies tend to trade at a
discount to American majors. T