Short Interest in Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Drops By 6.0%

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,670,000 shares, a decline of 6.0% from the May 31st total of 21,980,000 shares. Approximately 12.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 361,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 57.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Imperial Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James upgraded Imperial Oil to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.33.

Institutional Trading of Imperial Oil

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its position in Imperial Oil by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 29,218 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,671,000 after acquiring an additional 11,717 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Imperial Oil by 137.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 88,842 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $5,086,000 after purchasing an additional 51,449 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in Imperial Oil in the third quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Imperial Oil by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 197,264 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $11,292,000 after buying an additional 19,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Imperial Oil during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,124,000. 20.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Imperial Oil Price Performance

Shares of Imperial Oil stock opened at $68.71 on Wednesday. Imperial Oil has a fifty-two week low of $48.26 and a fifty-two week high of $74.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market cap of $36.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 1.47.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The energy company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.10. Imperial Oil had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 9.46%. The firm had revenue of $9.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.61 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Imperial Oil will post 6.29 EPS for the current year.

Imperial Oil Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.4377 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.59%.

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.