Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,670,000 shares, a decline of 6.0% from the May 31st total of 21,980,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 361,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 57.1 days. Currently, 12.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Imperial Oil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 22,495,313 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,281,608,000 after buying an additional 316,009 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Imperial Oil by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,632,262 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $408,481,000 after purchasing an additional 70,144 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Imperial Oil by 95.7% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,597,474 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $376,421,000 after purchasing an additional 3,225,957 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Imperial Oil by 201.0% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,384,060 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $233,640,000 after purchasing an additional 2,259,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Imperial Oil by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,120,229 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $63,913,000 after purchasing an additional 293,910 shares in the last quarter. 20.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on IMO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Imperial Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James upgraded shares of Imperial Oil to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.33.

Imperial Oil Price Performance

Shares of IMO opened at $68.71 on Wednesday. Imperial Oil has a 1-year low of $48.26 and a 1-year high of $74.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The energy company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.10. Imperial Oil had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 20.76%. The firm had revenue of $9.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.61 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Imperial Oil will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Imperial Oil Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a $0.4377 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. Imperial Oil’s payout ratio is 27.59%.

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.