Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

IMO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. TD Securities reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Imperial Capital reissued a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Imperial Oil to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Imperial Oil currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $116.00.

Imperial Oil Trading Down 0.5%

NYSEAMERICAN IMO opened at $119.77 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $122.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.23. Imperial Oil has a twelve month low of $81.46 and a twelve month high of $139.44. The stock has a market cap of $57.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.25 and a beta of 0.45.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Imperial Oil

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IMO. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 88.4% in the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 36,253 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $3,290,000 after buying an additional 17,011 shares during the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Imperial Oil during the 4th quarter worth about $2,301,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 72.9% during the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 41,858 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,625,000 after acquiring an additional 17,643 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,709,910 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $147,582,000 after acquiring an additional 303,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Imperial Oil in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,757,000. 20.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.