Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 9,706 Shares of Imperial Oil Limited $IMO

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its stake in Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) by 14.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 58,542 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 9,706 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Imperial Oil were worth $7,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its position in Imperial Oil by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 9,924 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $858,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Imperial Oil by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 531 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 3.2% during the first quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,030 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Imperial Oil by 1.5% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,071 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $959,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 20.74% of the company’s stock.

Imperial Oil Trading Down 0.9%

NYSEAMERICAN IMO opened at $122.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $59.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.90 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.18. Imperial Oil Limited has a one year low of $80.95 and a one year high of $139.44.

Imperial Oil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, June 4th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 4th. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on IMO. Zacks Research lowered Imperial Oil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Scotiabank upgraded Imperial Oil to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Imperial Capital reiterated a “sell” rating on shares of Imperial Oil in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price 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.