Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Short Interest Update
by Sarita Garza · The Markets DailyImperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO – Get Free Report) (TSE:IMO) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 14,887,581 shares, a drop of 20.1% from the March 15th total of 18,630,640 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 868,855 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 17.1 days. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
IMO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Imperial Oil from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $116.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. TD Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Imperial Oil has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $116.00.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Imperial Oil
Imperial Oil Stock Down 3.0%
Imperial Oil stock traded down $3.83 on Friday, hitting $121.94. 911,344 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 704,393. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market cap of $58.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.62 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.60. Imperial Oil has a 1 year low of $63.20 and a 1 year high of $133.37.
Imperial Oil Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 5th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This is an increase from Imperial Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 5th. Imperial Oil’s payout ratio is 38.69%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Imperial Oil
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new position in shares of Imperial Oil during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Imperial Oil by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 426 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Imperial Oil by 64.8% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Imperial Oil by 737.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 511 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.74% of the company’s stock.
Imperial Oil Company Profile
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.