Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $134.41 and last traded at $133.9830, with a volume of 30066 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $132.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on IMO. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Imperial Oil from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $116.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, February 23rd. TD Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Imperial Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $116.00.

Imperial Oil Stock Up 1.3%

The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.61. The firm has a market cap of $64.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.68 and a beta of 0.48.

Imperial Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Imperial Oil’s payout ratio is presently 38.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Imperial Oil

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Argent Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Imperial Oil in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,308,000. MAI Capital Management increased its position in Imperial Oil by 2,776.1% during the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 10,929 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $992,000 after purchasing an additional 10,549 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Imperial Oil by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 84,287 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $7,648,000 after purchasing an additional 10,299 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd increased its position in Imperial Oil by 88.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 36,253 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $3,290,000 after purchasing an additional 17,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in Imperial Oil during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,852,000. 20.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Imperial Oil

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN: IMO) is a Canadian integrated energy company involved in the exploration, production, refining and marketing of petroleum and petrochemical products. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Imperial has operated in Canada for well over a century and is one of the country’s long-standing energy firms. The company is majority-owned by Exxon Mobil Corporation, which provides strategic and technical links to global upstream and downstream capabilities.

Imperial’s operations span upstream activities—exploration and production of crude oil, natural gas and oil-sands resources—and downstream operations including refining, manufacturing of fuels and lubricants, petrochemical products, and retail distribution.