Imperial Petroleum Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:IMPP)

Imperial Petroleum Inc. (NASDAQ:IMPP) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 7,009 put options on the company. This is an increase of 370% compared to the average daily volume of 1,491 put options.

Imperial Petroleum Trading Down 6.8%

NASDAQ IMPP opened at $4.10 on Wednesday. Imperial Petroleum has a 1 year low of $2.12 and a 1 year high of $6.57. The company has a market cap of $148.50 million, a PE ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $3.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.33.

Imperial Petroleum (NASDAQ:IMPP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.21. Imperial Petroleum had a net margin of 28.61% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The business had revenue of $41.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.20 million.

Imperial Petroleum declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 9th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IMPP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Imperial Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Imperial Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Imperial Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.00.

Institutional Trading of Imperial Petroleum

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IMPP. Towerview LLC grew its holdings in shares of Imperial Petroleum by 1.8% during the second quarter. Towerview LLC now owns 422,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after buying an additional 7,281 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC purchased a new stake in Imperial Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth about $47,000. Allegheny Financial Group lifted its stake in Imperial Petroleum by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allegheny Financial Group now owns 83,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 5,114 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Imperial Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth about $755,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in Imperial Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth about $90,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.44% of the company’s stock.

About Imperial Petroleum

Imperial Petroleum Inc provides international seaborne transportation services to oil producers, refineries, and commodities traders. It carries refined petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and jet fuel, as well as edible oils and chemicals, crude oils, iron ore, coal and grains, and minor bulks, such as bauxite, phosphate, and fertilizers. As of April 1, 2024, the company owned and operated a fleet of six medium range refined petroleum product tankers; one Aframax tanker; two suezmax tankers; and two handysize drybulk carriers with a total capacity of 791,000 deadweight tons.