Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $85.33.

Separately, StockNews.com raised Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Imperial Oil

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of IMO. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Imperial Oil by 95.7% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,597,474 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $376,421,000 after purchasing an additional 3,225,957 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Imperial Oil by 114.8% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,371,517 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $209,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,801,671 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Imperial Oil by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,557,885 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,758,993,000 after buying an additional 1,001,847 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Imperial Oil by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,737,291 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $168,591,000 after purchasing an additional 589,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QV Investors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Imperial Oil during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,674,000. Institutional investors own 20.74% of the company’s stock.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

Shares of IMO traded up $0.46 on Monday, reaching $71.16. 263,246 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 417,330. The company has a market capitalization of $38.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 1.48. Imperial Oil has a 52-week low of $44.46 and a 52-week high of $74.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The energy company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.10. Imperial Oil had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 20.71%. The business had revenue of $9.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Imperial Oil will post 6.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Imperial Oil Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a $0.4377 dividend. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.74%.

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.