J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Takes $2.30 Million Position in Imperial Oil Limited $IMO

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG acquired a new position in Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 26,600 shares of the energy company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,301,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Imperial Oil by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 9,869 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $852,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares during the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,563 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 36,569 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $3,163,000 after buying an additional 949 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Imperial Oil by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,215 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $807,000 after buying an additional 680 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Imperial Oil in the fourth quarter worth about $1,757,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 20.74% of the company’s stock.

Imperial Oil Stock Performance

Shares of IMO stock opened at $130.82 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Imperial Oil Limited has a 12-month low of $58.76 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $117.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.54. The company has a market capitalization of $63.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.56 and a beta of 0.66.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 5th will be paid a $0.87 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 5th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is an increase from Imperial Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio is 38.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on IMO shares. TD Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Imperial Oil from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut shares of Imperial Oil from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $116.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Imperial Oil from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $116.00.

About Imperial Oil

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN: IMO) is a Canadian integrated energy company involved in the exploration, production, refining and marketing of petroleum and petrochemical products. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Imperial has operated in Canada for well over a century and is one of the country’s long-standing energy firms. The company is majority-owned by Exxon Mobil Corporation, which provides strategic and technical links to global upstream and downstream capabilities.

Imperial’s operations span upstream activities—exploration and production of crude oil, natural gas and oil-sands resources—and downstream operations including refining, manufacturing of fuels and lubricants, petrochemical products, and retail distribution.