Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $115.00.

Several research firms have commented on IMO. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Imperial Oil from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. TD Securities restated a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Imperial Oil

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of IMO. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 32.0% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 31,278 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,482,000 after buying an additional 7,588 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in Imperial Oil during the second quarter valued at $1,235,000. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 3.5% during the second quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 233,736 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $18,456,000 after buying an additional 7,940 shares during the last quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Imperial Oil during the second quarter valued at approximately $852,000. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in Imperial Oil by 1,294.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 304,811 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $24,220,000 after acquiring an additional 282,949 shares in the last quarter. 20.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Imperial Oil Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSEAMERICAN:IMO opened at $119.76 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $96.18 and its 200 day moving average is $92.45. Imperial Oil has a 12-month low of $58.76 and a 12-month high of $120.02. The stock has a market cap of $57.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.15 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Imperial Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.26%.

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.