Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

A number of other analysts have also commented on IMO. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. They set a buy rating for the company. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Imperial Oil from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Imperial Oil currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $78.25.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

Imperial Oil stock opened at $57.78 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.52. Imperial Oil has a 1 year low of $44.22 and a 1 year high of $63.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.49.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 27th. The energy company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.41 billion. Imperial Oil had a return on equity of 22.33% and a net margin of 10.03%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Imperial Oil will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Imperial Oil Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be paid a $0.3619 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $1.45 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 189.6% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 724 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC bought a new stake in Imperial Oil in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 229.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,724 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 149.3% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,687 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $139,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 20.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Imperial Oil

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 for, and produces crude oil, natural gas, synthetic crude oil, and bitumen. The Downstream segment is involved in the transportation and refining of crude oil, blending of refined products, and the distribution and marketing of refined products.