Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires 74,533 Shares of Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) by 59.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 200,053 shares of the energy company’s stock after buying an additional 74,533 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Imperial Oil were worth $12,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IMO. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,648 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $471,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,916 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Group One Trading LLC lifted its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 29.7% during the 4th 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. Gold Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 27,904 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 3,920 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 20.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Imperial Oil Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of IMO stock opened at $71.17 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $36.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 1.44. Imperial Oil Limited has a 52 week low of $58.76 and a 52 week high of $80.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $67.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.72.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.523 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. This represents a $2.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. This is a boost from Imperial Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Imperial Oil’s payout ratio is presently 25.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on IMO. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Imperial Oil from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $101.00 target price on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Imperial Oil from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Imperial Oil to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Imperial Oil currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.33.

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.