Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Stock Price Down 4.4% – Time to Sell?

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) fell 4.4% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $68.79 and last traded at $68.34. 463,742 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 17% from the average session volume of 556,480 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Imperial Oil Stock Down 6.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $34.18 billion, a PE ratio of 10.03 and a beta of 1.45.

Imperial Oil Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a $0.4304 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IMO. FMR LLC raised its stake in Imperial Oil by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 36,933,627 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $2,598,604,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331,235 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $311,175,000 after purchasing an additional 341,689 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP increased its stake 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 during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Imperial Oil by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,107,250 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $148,235,000 after buying an additional 187,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its position in Imperial Oil by 522.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 201,126 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $14,166,000 after buying an additional 168,831 shares during the period. 20.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Imperial Oil Company 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.