Vanguard Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Imperial Oil Limited $IMO

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its stake in Imperial Oil by 0.7% in Q4, selling 45,537 shares and now holding 6,664,936 shares (about 1.38% ownership) valued at roughly $575.8 million.
• Analyst sentiment is soft with a MarketBeat consensus rating of Reduce (1 Strong Buy, 3 Hold, 5 Sell) and a consensus price target of $116, while RBC and TD recently downgraded the stock.
• Imperial Oil announced a quarterly dividend of $0.87 ($3.48 annualized) for a yield of 2.7%, with an ex-dividend date of June 4 and payment on July 1.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO - Free Report) TSE: IMO by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,664,936 shares of the energy company's stock after selling 45,537 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 1.38% of Imperial Oil worth $575,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Busey Bank acquired a new stake in Imperial Oil in the fourth quarter valued at $258,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 153,539 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $13,282,000 after purchasing an additional 36,267 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp boosted its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 101.7% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 6,074 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $524,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 209.5% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 653 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,542 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 1,849 shares during the period. 20.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on IMO. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Imperial Oil from a "sector perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $116.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Zacks Research raised Imperial Oil from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $116.00.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

NYSEAMERICAN IMO opened at $130.47 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The business's 50 day moving average is $124.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.18. Imperial Oil Limited has a 12-month low of $66.62 and a 12-month high of $134.31.

Imperial Oil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 4th. Imperial Oil's payout ratio is presently 38.69%.

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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