Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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.

Imperial Oil Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of IMO stock opened at $67.39 on Monday. Imperial Oil has a 52 week low of $44.46 and a 52 week 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 1.48.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The energy company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $9.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. Imperial Oil had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 20.71%. Equities analysts anticipate that Imperial Oil will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Imperial Oil Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.4377 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.74%.

Institutional Trading of Imperial Oil

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its position in Imperial Oil by 67.0% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 29,218 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,671,000 after purchasing an additional 11,717 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in Imperial Oil by 137.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 88,842 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $5,086,000 after purchasing an additional 51,449 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in Imperial Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $269,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 44.0% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 95,817 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $5,901,000 after acquiring an additional 29,258 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Imperial Oil in the fourth quarter worth about $1,745,000. 20.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 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.