Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) Short Interest Update

Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,330,000 shares, an increase of 6.1% from the March 15th total of 16,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 424,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 40.8 days. Approximately 10.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kathmere Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Imperial Oil in the first quarter valued at about $251,000. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Imperial Oil in the first quarter valued at about $405,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in Imperial Oil in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,124,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Imperial Oil by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 197,264 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $11,292,000 after purchasing an additional 19,731 shares during the period. Finally, Syon Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Imperial Oil by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 14,070 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $805,000 after acquiring an additional 3,761 shares during the last quarter. 20.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Imperial Oil Price Performance

Shares of IMO stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $68.49. 165,980 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 424,671. Imperial Oil has a fifty-two week low of $44.46 and a fifty-two week high of $74.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 1.48.

Imperial Oil (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) (TSE:IMO) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The energy company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.26. Imperial Oil had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 9.59%. The firm had revenue of $9.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.29 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Imperial Oil will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Imperial Oil Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a $0.4473 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $1.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.61%. This is a boost from Imperial Oil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Imperial Oil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.05%.

About Imperial Oil

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.