Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $85.57, but opened at $88.72. Imperial Oil shares last traded at $85.2730, with a volume of 68,689 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on IMO. TD Securities restated a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Imperial Oil from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Imperial Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $115.00.

Imperial Oil Trading Up 0.5%

The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $92.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 0.70.

Imperial Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.26%.

Institutional Trading of Imperial Oil

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IMO. IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Imperial Oil during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. MAI Capital Management grew its position in Imperial Oil by 2,275.0% during the second quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 380 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 88.5% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 543 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 64.8% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing 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.