Aviva PLC Decreases Stake in Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO)

Aviva PLC reduced its position in shares of Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO – Get Rating) (TSE:IMO) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,330 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 527 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Imperial Oil were worth $21,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in IMO. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Imperial Oil by 257.9% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,266,732 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $61,663,000 after acquiring an additional 912,770 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Imperial Oil by 153.4% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,505,425 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $72,741,000 after acquiring an additional 911,333 shares in the last quarter. Waratah Capital Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in Imperial Oil in the third quarter worth $37,331,000. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. bought a new stake in Imperial Oil in the fourth quarter worth $38,289,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Imperial Oil by 505.2% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 837,145 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $40,576,000 after purchasing an additional 698,818 shares during the last quarter. 20.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on IMO. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Scotiabank raised shares of Imperial Oil from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 21st. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Imperial Oil from C$70.00 to C$74.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Imperial Oil from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Imperial Oil presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.00.

Imperial Oil Price Performance

IMO stock opened at $46.96 on Friday. Imperial Oil Limited has a 1 year low of $39.95 and a 1 year high of $58.99. The company has a market cap of $27.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.37, a PEG ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $48.95 and a 200 day moving average of $50.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO – Get Rating) (TSE:IMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The energy company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.13. Imperial Oil had a net margin of 12.58% and a return on equity of 31.83%. The company had revenue of $8.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.38 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Imperial Oil Limited will post 5.68 EPS for the current year.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.3674 dividend. This is an increase from Imperial Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.33. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 1st. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.32%.

Imperial Oil Company Profile

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Imperial Oil Ltd. engages in the exploration, production, and sale of crude oil and natural gas. It operates through the following business segments: Upstream, Downstream, Chemical, and Corporate and Other. The Upstream segment includes the exploration and production of crude oil, natural gas, synthetic oil, and bitumen.