Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $116.00.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on IMO shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Imperial Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Imperial Capital reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Imperial Oil

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Imperial Oil in the 1st quarter worth approximately $93,097,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Imperial Oil in the 2nd quarter worth $24,051,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 168.2% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 296,585 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $25,598,000 after buying an additional 185,995 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 569,676 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $74,508,000 after acquiring an additional 108,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,243,738 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $107,459,000 after acquiring an additional 96,694 shares during the last quarter. 20.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Imperial Oil stock opened at $125.68 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.39 and a beta of 0.57. Imperial Oil has a 12 month low of $83.27 and a 12 month high of $139.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The energy company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $1.53. The firm had revenue of $11.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.92 billion. Imperial Oil had a return on equity of 22.28% and a net margin of 8.03%.The business’s revenue was up 43.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.86 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Imperial Oil will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

Imperial Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were issued a dividend of C$0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 38.09%.

About Imperial Oil

Imperial Oil Limited is an integrated Canadian energy company engaged in the exploration, production, transportation, refining and marketing of crude oil and natural gas. Founded in 1880, the company is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, and has operations primarily across Canada.

Imperial’s upstream business includes oil sands production at its Kearl and Cold Lake projects, as well as conventional oil and natural gas activities. The company also holds an interest in Syncrude, one of Canada’s major oil sands mining and upgrading operations.