Guinness Asset Management LTD Trims Stock Holdings in Imperial Oil Limited $IMO

Key Points

• Guinness Asset Management LTD reduced its stake in Imperial Oil by 19.4% in the first quarter, shedding over 32,000 shares, and now holds 133,325 shares valued at approximately $9.6 million.
• Imperial Oil recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.52 to $0.72, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.88 and a yield of 3.1%.
• The stock received mixed ratings from analysts, with Zacks upgrading it to a "strong buy" and Wolfe Research downgrading it to a "peer perform", highlighting divided sentiment among investors.

Guinness Asset Management LTD trimmed its stake in Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO - Free Report) TSE: IMO by 19.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,325 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 32,141 shares during the quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD's holdings in Imperial Oil were worth $9,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Group One Trading LLC grew its holdings in Imperial Oil by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. Group One Trading LLC now owns 755 shares of the energy company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Gold Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in Imperial Oil by 0.6% in the first quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 28,082 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,029,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Imperial Oil by 88.5% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 543 shares of the energy company's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 2.0% in the first quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 14,861 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $1,075,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Imperial Oil during the first quarter worth about $26,000. 20.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSEAMERICAN:IMO traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $94.73. The company had a trading volume of 157,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 446,121. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $47.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.60 and a beta of 0.94. The company's 50-day moving average price is $85.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.27. Imperial Oil Limited has a one year low of $58.76 and a one year high of $96.09.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This is a boost from Imperial Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.52. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Imperial Oil's payout ratio is presently 31.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IMO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Tudor Pickering downgraded Imperial Oil from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Zacks Research upgraded Imperial Oil from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Wolfe Research downgraded Imperial Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial downgraded Imperial Oil from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Desjardins cut shares of Imperial Oil from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Imperial Oil has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $105.50.

Imperial Oil 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.