Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $115.00.

IMO has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered Imperial Oil from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in Imperial Oil by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. McMillan Office Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Imperial Oil in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Imperial Oil during the second quarter worth about $28,000. MAI Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 2,275.0% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 380 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 426 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.74% of the company’s stock.

Imperial Oil Stock Down 1.5%

NYSEAMERICAN:IMO opened at $120.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $99.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.71. Imperial Oil has a 1-year low of $58.76 and a 1-year high of $123.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.35 and a beta of 0.70.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This is an increase from Imperial Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 31.26%.

About Imperial Oil

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.