Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank upgraded Imperial Oil to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Imperial Capital reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $116.00.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Imperial Oil stock opened at $119.77 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.92 billion, a PE ratio of 28.25 and a beta of 0.45. Imperial Oil has a 12 month low of $81.46 and a 12 month high of $139.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.67.

Imperial Oil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. Imperial Oil’s payout ratio is currently 38.24%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Imperial Oil

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 30.4% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,840,645 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $348,500,000 after buying an additional 895,117 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Imperial Oil by 47.9% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,867,363 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $161,172,000 after purchasing an additional 604,447 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in Imperial Oil by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,709,910 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $147,582,000 after purchasing an additional 303,286 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Imperial Oil by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,693,690 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $149,067,000 after buying an additional 78,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in Imperial Oil by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,243,738 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $107,459,000 after buying an additional 96,694 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.