Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Imperial Oil from hold to strong-buy, giving the stock a notable positive analyst call.
• Despite that upgrade, the broader analyst view remains cautious: the consensus rating is still Reduce, with an average target price of $116.00.
• Imperial Oil shares were trading around $119.77, and institutional ownership remains significant, with hedge funds and institutions holding about 20.74% of the company.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO - Get Free Report) TSE: IMO was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on IMO. Imperial Capital reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. TD Securities restated a "sell" rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Imperial Oil to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $116.00.

Imperial Oil Trading Down 0.5%

Imperial Oil stock opened at $119.77 on Wednesday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $122.10 and its 200-day moving average is $117.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.23. Imperial Oil has a 1 year low of $81.46 and a 1 year high of $139.44. The company has a market cap of $57.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.25 and a beta of 0.45.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Imperial Oil

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Imperial Oil by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,840,645 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $348,500,000 after buying an additional 895,117 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,867,363 shares of the energy company's stock worth $161,172,000 after acquiring an additional 604,447 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,709,910 shares of the energy company's stock worth $147,582,000 after acquiring an additional 303,286 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,693,690 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $149,067,000 after acquiring an additional 78,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,243,738 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $107,459,000 after acquiring an additional 96,694 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.74% of the company's stock.

About Imperial Oil

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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