Axa S.A. Increases Stock Position in Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO)

Axa S.A. raised its position in shares of Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,528 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 604 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Imperial Oil were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Imperial Oil during the 2nd quarter worth $3,064,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Imperial Oil by 91.6% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 20,210 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $1,397,000 after buying an additional 9,660 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Imperial Oil in the first quarter worth about $720,000. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 262.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 95,455 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $6,511,000 after buying an additional 69,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 1,250.9% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 7,849 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 7,268 shares during the period. 20.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on IMO shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Imperial Oil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.50.

Imperial Oil Price Performance

IMO stock opened at $73.93 on Thursday. Imperial Oil Limited has a one year low of $52.97 and a one year high of $77.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.07 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 1.45.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The energy company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $9.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.50 billion. Imperial Oil had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.73%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Imperial Oil Limited will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Imperial Oil Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.4336 per share. This represents a $1.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.90%.

Imperial Oil Profile

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.