Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports.

IMO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Imperial Oil from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Imperial Oil to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Imperial Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Imperial Oil has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.00.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

IMO opened at $72.27 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 1.44. The company’s fifty day moving average is $69.21. Imperial Oil has a fifty-two week low of $60.95 and a fifty-two week high of $80.17.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.4972 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. This is a positive change from Imperial Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.80%.

Institutional Trading of Imperial Oil

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Imperial Oil by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,833 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $606,000 after buying an additional 2,125 shares during the period. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Imperial Oil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,051,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Imperial Oil during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,507,000. Vise Technologies Inc. raised its stake in Imperial Oil by 70.2% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 13,002 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 5,361 shares during the period. Finally, USS Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Imperial Oil during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,152,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.74% of the company’s stock.

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.