Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) shares saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 3,910,420 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 382% from the previous session’s volume of 810,955 shares.The stock last traded at $119.65 and had previously closed at $119.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IMO has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Imperial Oil from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Imperial Oil from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $116.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $116.00.

Imperial Oil Stock Down 0.3%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $103.52 and a 200-day moving average of $95.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $57.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.97 and a beta of 0.66.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This is a boost from Imperial Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Imperial Oil’s payout ratio is currently 31.26%.

Institutional Trading of Imperial Oil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Imperial Oil by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,710,473 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $608,459,000 after acquiring an additional 100,665 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,840,645 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $348,500,000 after purchasing an additional 895,117 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,053,989 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $163,413,000 after purchasing an additional 318,696 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Imperial Oil by 47.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,867,363 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $161,172,000 after purchasing an additional 604,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Imperial Oil by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,709,910 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $147,582,000 after purchasing an additional 303,286 shares during the last quarter. 20.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Imperial Oil

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.