Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Cut to Peer Perform at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research lowered shares of Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $110.00 price objective on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Imperial Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.00.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

Shares of Imperial Oil stock opened at $62.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.99 billion, a PE ratio of 9.30 and a beta of 1.42. Imperial Oil has a 12-month low of $54.58 and a 12-month high of $80.17.

Imperial Oil Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.4304 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.38%.

Institutional Trading of Imperial Oil

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 36,933,627 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,598,604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,331,235 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Imperial Oil by 8.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,420,002 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $311,175,000 after purchasing an additional 341,689 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Imperial Oil by 9.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,107,250 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $148,235,000 after purchasing an additional 187,158 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in Imperial Oil by 10,896.4% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 867,174 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $59,135,000 after purchasing an additional 859,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Imperial Oil by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 842,664 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $59,502,000 after purchasing an additional 70,357 shares during the period. 20.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Imperial Oil Company Profile

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.