Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Shares Break Above 50 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Imperial Oil shares rose 1.4%, trading above their 50-day moving average of $129.58 and reaching as high as $131.67. The stock’s 200-day moving average is $123.20.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious despite the technical rise: Imperial Oil has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a $116 target price, with five analysts rating it a Sell.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, posting $4.52 in EPS versus the $2.99 estimate and revenue of $11.31 billion. It also maintains a quarterly dividend of C$0.87 per share, equivalent to a 2.7% yield.

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO - Get Free Report) TSE: IMO's share price passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $129.58 and traded as high as $131.67. Imperial Oil shares last traded at $130.66, with a volume of 483,844 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IMO has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. TD Securities reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research raised Imperial Oil from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Monday, October 19th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Desjardins upgraded Imperial Oil to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Imperial Oil has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $116.00.

Imperial Oil Stock Up 1.4%

The firm has a market capitalization of $61.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.38. The business's 50 day moving average is $129.58 and its 200-day moving average is $123.20.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO - Get Free Report) TSE: IMO last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The energy company reported $4.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.99 by $1.53. The company had revenue of $11.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.92 billion. Imperial Oil had a net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 22.28%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 43.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.86 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Imperial Oil Limited will post 11.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Imperial Oil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th were given a dividend of C$0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. Imperial Oil's payout ratio is currently 38.09%.

Institutional Trading of Imperial Oil

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IMO. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Imperial Oil during the first quarter valued at approximately $93,097,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 3.3% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 734,540 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $90,977,000 after purchasing an additional 23,508 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 23.6% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 569,676 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $74,508,000 after purchasing an additional 108,700 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Imperial Oil in the second quarter valued at $24,051,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in Imperial Oil by 1.8% in the first quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 162,648 shares of the energy company's stock worth $21,236,000 after purchasing an additional 2,907 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 20.74% of the company's stock.

About Imperial Oil

Imperial Oil Limited is an integrated Canadian energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in 1880, the company explores for, produces, transports, refines and markets crude oil and natural gas, serving customers primarily in Canada. Imperial is one of the country's largest petroleum companies and has a long-standing relationship with Exxon Mobil Corporation, which is its majority shareholder.

Imperial's upstream operations include oil sands production at the Kearl and Cold Lake projects in Alberta, as well as a significant interest in the Syncrude oil sands mining and upgrading operation.

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