Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Short Interest Update

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,560,000 shares, a decline of 8.1% from the January 15th total of 15,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 527,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 27.6 days. Approximately 8.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSEAMERICAN IMO traded up $1.84 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $71.09. 352,739 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 562,234. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.79 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.44. Imperial Oil has a 12-month low of $58.60 and a 12-month high of $80.17.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be issued a $0.4972 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This is an increase from Imperial Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Imperial Oil’s payout ratio is presently 25.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Imperial Oil

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 43,162,088 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,659,965,000 after acquiring an additional 6,228,461 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Imperial Oil by 8.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,420,002 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $311,175,000 after purchasing an additional 341,689 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Imperial Oil by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,086,840 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $67,634,000 after purchasing an additional 244,176 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Imperial Oil by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 945,002 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $58,212,000 after purchasing an additional 212,707 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP increased its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 131.2% in the third quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 356,972 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $25,134,000 after buying an additional 202,590 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on IMO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Imperial Oil from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wolfe Research lowered Imperial Oil from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.00.

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.