Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $102.00 and last traded at $101.7610, with a volume of 36280 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $99.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on IMO shares. Raymond James Financial downgraded Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Imperial Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Imperial Oil from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $115.00.

Imperial Oil Stock Up 2.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.67.

Imperial Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 31.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Imperial Oil during the second quarter valued at $28,000. MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in Imperial Oil by 2,275.0% during the 2nd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 380 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Imperial Oil by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 426 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 64.8% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 737.7% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 511 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.