Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Short Interest Update

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Imperial Oil Price Performance

IMO opened at $71.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $36.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.79 and a beta of 1.44. Imperial Oil has a fifty-two week low of $58.60 and a fifty-two week high of $80.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Imperial Oil

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Winch Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Imperial Oil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in Imperial Oil in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Imperial Oil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Group One Trading LLC boosted its position in Imperial Oil by 29.7% in the fourth quarter. Group One Trading LLC now owns 755 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Imperial Oil by 21.0% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,347 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. 20.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.