Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $99.50.

IMO has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Imperial Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Imperial Oil in a research report on Wednesday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. RFP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Imperial Oil in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 84.0% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 493 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in shares of Imperial Oil during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Imperial Oil by 938.5% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 810 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Imperial Oil during the first quarter worth $46,000. 20.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Imperial Oil Price Performance

Imperial Oil stock opened at $70.32 on Thursday. Imperial Oil has a 12 month low of $52.97 and a 12 month high of $77.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 1.45.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The energy company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.11. Imperial Oil had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.73%. The firm had revenue of $9.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.50 billion. Analysts expect that Imperial Oil will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Imperial Oil Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.4336 per share. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 4th. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.90%.

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.