Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Short Interest Up 6.1% in March

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,330,000 shares, an increase of 6.1% from the March 15th total of 16,340,000 shares. Currently, 10.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 424,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 40.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Imperial Oil

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in Imperial Oil by 52.6% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 522 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Imperial Oil by 2.6% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,154 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in Imperial Oil by 3.0% during the third quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 8,450 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. AXA S.A. grew its holdings in Imperial Oil by 5.0% during the first quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 5,684 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in Imperial Oil by 3.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 10,313 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. 20.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Imperial Oil stock traded up $0.74 on Wednesday, hitting $70.35. The company had a trading volume of 43,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 422,295. The company has a market cap of $37.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 1.48. Imperial Oil has a 1 year low of $44.46 and a 1 year high of $74.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 2nd. The energy company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $9.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.29 billion. Imperial Oil had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 9.59%. Equities analysts anticipate that Imperial Oil will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.4473 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This is a positive change from Imperial Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.05%.

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.