Analysts Set Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Price Target at $85.33

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $85.33.

Separately, StockNews.com raised Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th.

Imperial Oil Price Performance

IMO stock opened at $68.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 1.47. Imperial Oil has a twelve month low of $44.46 and a twelve month high of $74.58.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The energy company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $9.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.61 billion. Imperial Oil had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 9.46%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Imperial Oil will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Imperial Oil Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.4377 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. Imperial Oil’s payout ratio is presently 27.74%.

Institutional Trading of Imperial Oil

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Gold Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Imperial Oil by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 27,365 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,888,000 after buying an additional 819 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd acquired a new stake in Imperial Oil during the 1st quarter worth $798,000. FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in Imperial Oil during the 1st quarter worth about $251,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Imperial Oil by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,415 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Imperial Oil during the 1st quarter worth about $242,000. 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.