Quantbot Technologies LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Imperial Oil Limited $IMO

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP cut its stake in Imperial Oil by 88.6% in Q3, selling 24,446 shares and leaving it with 3,136 shares valued at about $285,000.
• Imperial Oil raised its quarterly dividend to $0.87 (from $0.72), an annualized $3.48 and roughly a 3.0% yield, with an ex-dividend date of March 5 and payment on April 1.
• Analysts are largely bearish on IMO, with a MarketBeat consensus of Strong Sell, an average price target of $116 and several recent downgrades from major firms.

Quantbot Technologies LP reduced its holdings in Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO - Free Report) TSE: IMO by 88.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,136 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 24,446 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP's holdings in Imperial Oil were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in IMO. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Imperial Oil by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 84,287 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $7,648,000 after buying an additional 10,299 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management increased its stake in Imperial Oil by 2,776.1% during the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 10,929 shares of the energy company's stock worth $992,000 after buying an additional 10,549 shares in the last quarter. Argent Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Imperial Oil during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,308,000. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 3.5% during the second quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 233,736 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $18,456,000 after acquiring an additional 7,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Imperial Oil in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,235,000. 20.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Imperial Oil Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Imperial Oil stock opened at $117.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $57.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74 and a beta of 0.66. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $106.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.64. Imperial Oil Limited has a 1-year low of $58.76 and a 1-year high of $123.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. This is a boost from Imperial Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Imperial Oil's dividend payout ratio is 38.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IMO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Securities reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Imperial Oil from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Imperial Oil from a "sector perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $116.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Imperial Oil from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, December 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Strong Sell" 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.

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