Imperial Petroleum Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:IMPP)

Imperial Petroleum Inc. (NASDAQ:IMPP) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 15,790 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 806% compared to the typical volume of 1,743 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on IMPP. Maxim Group downgraded shares of Imperial Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Imperial Petroleum from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Imperial Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Imperial Petroleum

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Anson Funds Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Imperial Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $15,782,000. Empery Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Imperial Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,522,000. PEAK6 LLC boosted its position in Imperial Petroleum by 1,554.6% during the fourth quarter. PEAK6 LLC now owns 573,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,075,000 after purchasing an additional 538,631 shares during the period. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Imperial Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $916,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Imperial Petroleum by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 234,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $848,000 after purchasing an additional 10,648 shares during the last quarter. 94.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Imperial Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of IMPP stock opened at $4.94 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $4.41 and its 200-day moving average is $4.43. The stock has a market cap of $178.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 1.21. Imperial Petroleum has a 52-week low of $2.45 and a 52-week high of $6.57.

Imperial Petroleum announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, February 9th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About Imperial Petroleum

Imperial Petroleum Inc provides international seaborne transportation services to oil producers, refineries, and commodities traders. It carries refined petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and jet fuel, as well as edible oils and chemicals, crude oils, iron ore, coal and grains, and minor bulks, such as bauxite, phosphate, and fertilizers. As of April 1, 2024, the company owned and operated a fleet of six medium range refined petroleum product tankers; one Aframax tanker; two suezmax tankers; and two handysize drybulk carriers with a total capacity of 791,000 deadweight tons.