StockNews.com Upgrades Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) to “Buy”

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on IMO. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Imperial Oil from $111.00 to $110.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Raymond James upgraded Imperial Oil to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Imperial Oil in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.80.

Imperial Oil Price Performance

Shares of Imperial Oil stock traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $67.63. 305,808 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 389,246. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $36.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 1.47. Imperial Oil has a 12 month low of $51.85 and a 12 month high of $74.58.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The energy company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $9.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.50 billion. Imperial Oil had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 9.46%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Imperial Oil will post 6.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Imperial Oil

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 95.7% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,597,474 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $376,421,000 after acquiring an additional 3,225,957 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 201.0% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,384,060 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $233,640,000 after acquiring an additional 2,259,766 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 134.0% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 747,929 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $51,588,000 after acquiring an additional 428,252 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 22,495,313 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,281,608,000 after acquiring an additional 316,009 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,120,229 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $63,913,000 after acquiring an additional 293,910 shares during the period. 20.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.