Bank of America Corp DE Cuts Stock Position in Imperial Oil Limited $IMO

Bank of America Corp DE cut its stake in shares of Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) by 24.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,183,910 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 691,993 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in Imperial Oil were worth $285,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in Imperial Oil by 566.9% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,406,624 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $127,637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,698 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Imperial Oil during the first quarter worth about $93,097,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 335.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 277,929 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $24,006,000 after purchasing an additional 214,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 168.2% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 296,585 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $25,598,000 after purchasing an additional 185,995 shares during the last quarter. 20.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

NYSEAMERICAN:IMO opened at $126.35 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $120.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.85. 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 company has a market cap of $61.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49 and a beta of 0.45. Imperial Oil Limited has a twelve month low of $82.08 and a twelve month high of $139.44.

Imperial Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IMO has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Desjardins upgraded Imperial Oil to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Imperial Capital reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $116.00.

Imperial Oil Profile

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.