Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $116.00.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on IMO. Zacks Research downgraded Imperial Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Imperial Capital reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. TD Securities restated a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Imperial Oil to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

NYSEAMERICAN IMO opened at $122.52 on Wednesday. Imperial Oil has a 1-year low of $80.95 and a 1-year high of $139.44. The company has a market capitalization of $59.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.90 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $122.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Imperial Oil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 4th. Imperial Oil’s payout ratio is currently 38.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Imperial Oil

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IMO. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Imperial Oil by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 34,218 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,475,000 after purchasing an additional 1,627 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 54.7% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,887 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $860,000 after purchasing an additional 4,201 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Imperial Oil during the 1st quarter worth about $200,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 4,569 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 4.7% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 354,865 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $28,205,000 after buying an additional 15,834 shares in the last quarter. 20.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.