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

Shares of Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $116.00.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IMO. Zacks Research raised Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Desjardins raised Imperial Oil to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Imperial Capital restated a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, TD Securities restated a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Wednesday, August 5th.

Imperial Oil Price Performance

Shares of IMO opened at $132.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $121.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.52. Imperial Oil has a fifty-two week low of $82.45 and a fifty-two week high of $139.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.47 and a beta of 0.45.

Imperial Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Imperial Oil’s payout ratio is presently 38.24%.

Institutional Trading of Imperial Oil

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IMO. Compound Planning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 2,597 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in Imperial Oil by 1.6% during the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 5,913 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $774,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Imperial Oil by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 9,924 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $858,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Imperial Oil by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 531 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Baron Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Imperial Oil by 3.2% during the first quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,030 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.74% of the company’s stock.

Imperial Oil Company Profile

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.