Wolfe Research Downgrades Imperial Oil to Hold Rating

On Friday, Wolfe Research announced a downgrade of shares for Imperial Oil (TSE:IMO – Free Report) (NYSEMKT:IMO) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating, as reported by Zacks.com.

Recently, several other financial analysts have also reviewed the stock. For instance, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target for Imperial Oil from C$97.00 to C$100.00 in a report on November 13th. Meanwhile, BMO Capital Markets also raised their target price on Imperial Oil from C$115.00 to C$120.00 in a report published on October 4th. Royal Bank of Canada adjusted their price target for Imperial Oil from C$99.00 to C$101.00, noted in their report dated November 6th. Additionally, Raymond James increased their target price from C$101.50 to C$104.00 in a report released on December 13th. Lastly, TD Securities raised their price objective on Imperial Oil from C$93.00 to C$96.00 and assigned a “hold” rating in a report on the same day.

According to MarketBeat.com, a total of ten investment analysts have issued a hold rating for the stock, resulting in an average rating of “Hold” with a mean target price of C$103.90.

Current Stock Performance

On Friday, Imperial Oil’s shares opened at C$90.02. Over the past year, the stock has recorded a low of C$73.81 and a high of C$108.89. Currently, the company’s fifty-day moving average price stands at C$99.43, while the two-hundred day moving average is at C$98.13. They maintain a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.27, with a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The market capitalization of Imperial Oil is C$48.24 billion, and it has a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.44 alongside a PEG ratio of 0.21. The beta of the stock is reported to be 1.78.

Dividend Information

Recently, Imperial Oil announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid out on January 1st. Shareholders who were on record as of January 1st received a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was previously set for December 3rd. Annually, this dividend equates to $2.40, resulting in a dividend yield of 2.67%, with a payout ratio noted at 25.16%.

Insider Transactions

In recent insider trading news, Director Bradley William Corson purchased 4,800 shares of Imperial Oil on December 12th at an average price of C$97.44 per share, totaling C$467,713.92. Notably, insiders currently hold about 71.26% of the stock.

Company Overview

Imperial Oil operates as one of Canada’s largest integrated oil companies, concentrating on upstream and refining operations, as well as the marketing of petroleum products. In 2020, the company had an average production of 398 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day and estimates holding approximately 5.2 billion barrels of proved and probable crude oil and natural gas reserves.

ImperialOil, Research, Stocks