Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Sets New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Imperial Oil's stock price reached a new 52-week high of $85.35, closing at $84.89 with notable trading volume.
• Analyst ratings for Imperial Oil have seen changes, with one firm downgrading it to "strong sell" while another set a price target of $101.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Hold."
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.50 to $0.523 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.46%.

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO - Get Free Report) TSE: IMO's stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $85.35 and last traded at $84.89, with a volume of 338655 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on IMO shares. Desjardins downgraded shares of Imperial Oil from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Tudor Pickering downgraded Imperial Oil from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. 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, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $101.00 price target on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $105.50.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $42.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $79.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.41.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th were issued a $0.523 dividend. This represents a $2.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 4th. This is a positive change from Imperial Oil's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Imperial Oil's payout ratio is currently 31.87%.

Institutional Trading of Imperial Oil

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IMO. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 43,162,088 shares of the energy company's stock worth $2,659,965,000 after purchasing an additional 6,228,461 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 395.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,546,520 shares of the energy company's stock worth $328,804,000 after purchasing an additional 3,629,568 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 273.2% during the 1st quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 658,949 shares of the energy company's stock worth $47,607,000 after purchasing an additional 482,393 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 1,233.1% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 498,056 shares of the energy company's stock worth $35,983,000 after purchasing an additional 460,696 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Imperial Oil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,507,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 20.74% of the company's stock.

About Imperial Oil

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.