Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Shares Cross Below 50 Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Key Points

• Imperial Oil shares fell below their 50-day moving average, trading as low as $123.73 versus the $129.62 average, and last changing hands at $124.28.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with one Buy, four Hold, and five Sell ratings; MarketBeat reports an average “Reduce” rating and a $116 price target.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $4.52, well above the $2.99 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 43% year over year to $11.31 billion. Imperial Oil also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share, representing a 2.8% yield.

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO - Get Free Report) TSE: IMO's stock price passed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $129.62 and traded as low as $123.73. Imperial Oil shares last traded at $124.28, with a volume of 620,349 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on IMO shares. Desjardins upgraded shares of Imperial Oil to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research lowered Imperial Oil from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "sell" rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Imperial Capital reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Monday, September 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Imperial Oil has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $116.00.

Imperial Oil Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $129.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $59.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 0.46.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO - Get Free Report) TSE: IMO last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The energy company reported $4.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.99 by $1.53. The business had revenue of $11.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.92 billion. Imperial Oil had a net margin of 8.03% and a return on equity of 22.28%. The firm's revenue was up 43.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.86 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Imperial Oil Limited will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Imperial Oil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Imperial Oil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Imperial Oil by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,693,690 shares of the energy company's stock worth $149,067,000 after acquiring an additional 78,321 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,243,738 shares of the energy company's stock valued at $107,459,000 after purchasing an additional 96,694 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 990,077 shares of the energy company's stock worth $85,649,000 after purchasing an additional 57,652 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Imperial Oil during the first quarter worth about $93,097,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings 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 worth $74,508,000 after acquiring an additional 108,700 shares during the period. 20.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Imperial Oil Company Profile

Imperial Oil Limited is an integrated Canadian energy company engaged in the exploration, production, transportation, refining and marketing of crude oil and natural gas. Its upstream operations include oil sands mining and in situ production, conventional oil and natural gas assets, and an interest in the Syncrude oil sands project.

The company's downstream business operates refineries and produces gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, lubricants, asphalt and other petroleum products. Imperial markets fuels and related products across Canada primarily under the Esso and Mobil brands, serving retail, commercial, industrial and aviation customers.

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