Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $102.00 and last traded at $101.7610, with a volume of 36280 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on IMO shares. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of Imperial Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. TD Securities reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts cut Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $115.00.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $48.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $92.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Imperial Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 3rd. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.26%.

Institutional Trading of Imperial Oil

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,599 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Imperial Oil by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 32,359 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,572,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 28,322 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,568,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 21,470 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,949,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 64.8% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.74% of the company’s stock.

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.