Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Earns “Sector Perform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $101.00 price target on the energy company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 45.87% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on IMO. Wolfe Research cut Imperial Oil from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Imperial Oil from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Imperial Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Imperial Oil to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Imperial Oil presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.33.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

NYSEAMERICAN:IMO traded down $4.29 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $69.24. The company had a trading volume of 267,153 shares, compared to its average volume of 492,853. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Imperial Oil has a fifty-two week low of $60.95 and a fifty-two week high of $80.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.51 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $69.67.

Institutional Trading of Imperial Oil

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its position in Imperial Oil by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 43,162,088 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,659,965,000 after acquiring an additional 6,228,461 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Imperial Oil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,507,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,086,840 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $67,634,000 after acquiring an additional 244,176 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 945,002 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $58,212,000 after purchasing an additional 212,707 shares during the period. Finally, Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Imperial Oil in the fourth quarter worth about $10,890,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.74% of the company’s stock.

Imperial Oil Company Profile

Imperial Oil Limited engages in exploration, production, and sale of crude oil and natural gas in Canada. The company operates through three segments: Upstream, Downstream and Chemical segments. The Upstream segment explores and produces crude oil, natural gas, synthetic crude oil, and bitumen. The Downstream segment transports and refines crude oil, blends refined products, and distributes and markets of refined products.