Imperial Oil Limited (TSE:IMO) Receives Average Recommendation of "Strong Sell" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: "Strong Sell" — Ten brokerages give Imperial Oil an average recommendation of Strong Sell (six sell, four hold) with a 12‑month average target of C$137.58, notably below the recent share price (~C$169.79).
• Dividend increase — The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.87 (annualized $3.48), implying a yield of about 2.0% and a payout ratio of 44.44%.
• Recent metrics — Shares traded down ~2.1% and sit near their 50‑day average (C$170.43); Imperial Oil has a market cap of C$82.11B, P/E of 26.2, and last quarter reported EPS of C$1.97 on C$11.28B revenue.

Imperial Oil Limited (TSE:IMO - Get Free Report) NYSEMKT: IMO has been assigned an average recommendation of "Strong Sell" from the ten brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$137.58.

IMO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Imperial Oil from C$107.00 to C$126.00 in a report on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Imperial Oil from C$155.00 to C$185.00 in a report on Monday, March 16th. TD Securities lifted their price target on Imperial Oil from C$101.00 to C$110.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Imperial Oil from C$116.00 to C$124.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Imperial Oil from C$108.00 to C$155.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th.

Imperial Oil Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of IMO stock opened at C$169.79 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$170.43 and a 200 day moving average price of C$144.74. Imperial Oil has a twelve month low of C$91.78 and a twelve month high of C$185.73. The company has a market capitalization of C$82.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.20, a PEG ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 19.69.

Imperial Oil (TSE:IMO - Get Free Report) NYSEMKT: IMO last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The company reported C$1.97 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$11.28 billion during the quarter. Imperial Oil had a net margin of 7.02% and a return on equity of 14.75%. Research analysts forecast that Imperial Oil will post 8.6164609 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were issued a $0.87 dividend. This is a positive change from Imperial Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Imperial Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

About Imperial Oil

Imperial Oil is one of Canada's largest integrated oil companies, focusing on upstream operations, petroleum refining operations, and the marketing of petroleum products. Production averaged 398 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2020. The company estimates that it holds 5.2 billion boe of proved and probable crude oil and natural gas reserves. Imperial remains the largest refiner of petroleum products in Canada, operating three refineries with a combined processing capacity of 421 mboe/d.

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