imperial oil

IMPERIAL OIL $45.93 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $38.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.1%; www.imperialoil.ca) has slowed work on its proposed Mackenzie pipeline project, which would pump natural gas from the Arctic to Alberta. (Imperial owns 34.4% of this project, which has already received regulatory approval.) That’s because rising production of natural gas from shale rock has depressed gas prices in the past few years. As well, higher raw material prices would add to the project’s estimated cost of $16.2 billion. If Imperial decides to proceed, the new line could start up in 2018. The company feels that gas prices will be higher by then, as more coal-fired power plants switch to this cleaner burning fuel. Proposed shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asian markets could also push up prices....

IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $43 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $36.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 1.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.imperialoil.ca) has slowed work on its proposed Mackenzie pipeline project, which would pump natural gas from the Arctic to Alberta. (Imperial owns 34.4% of this project, which has already received regulatory approval.)

That’s because rising production of natural gas from shale rock has depressed gas prices in the past few years. As well, higher prices for raw materials would increase the project’s estimated cost of $16.2 billion.

If Imperial decides to proceed, the new line could start up in 2018. The company feels that gas prices will be higher by then, as more coal-fired power plants switch to cleaner-burning natural gas.

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IGM FINANCIAL INC. $46 (Toronto symbol IGM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 256.7 million; Market cap: $11.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.3; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.igmfinancial.com) reports that it had $124.1 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2012. That’s down 7.4% from $134.1 billion a year earlier. Lower share prices were the main reason for the drop. IGM’s fee income rises and falls with the value of the mutual funds and other securities it manages, so the company’s revenue and earnings suffer when the value of these assets falls. Still, low interest rates will probably spur investors to shift from fixed-income investments to equity-based mutual funds over the next few months. IGM Financial is a buy....

IMPERIAL OIL $47.67 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 850.5 million; Market cap: $39.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.0%; www.imperialoil.ca) reports that its earnings rose 25.5% in the three months ended December 31, 2011, to $1.18 a share from $0.94 a share. Revenue rose 17.1%, to $8.1 billion from $6.9 billion.

Imperial has also raised its quarterly dividend by 9.1%, to $0.12 a share from $0.11. The new annual rate of $0.48 yields 1.0%. The company has paid dividends every year for over a century, and it has raised its payout for seventeen straight years.

Imperial Oil is still a buy.

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IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $48 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 847.6 million; Market cap: $40.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.4; Dividend yield: 1.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.imperialoil.ca) is Canada’s third-largest publicly traded oil company, after Suncor and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. Imperial is a 69.6%-owned subsidiary of U.S.-based ExxonMobil Corp. (New York symbol XOM).

Higher oil prices pushed up Imperial’s earnings by 52.5% in 2011, to $3.4 billion, or $3.95 a share. In 2010, it earned $2.2 billion, or $2.59 a share. Revenue rose 22.4%, to $30.7 billion from $25.1 billion. Cash flow per share rose 33.0%, to $4.70 from $3.53.

Imperial gets most of its oil from its Cold Lake oil sands project in Alberta. In 2011, Cold Lake’s daily production rose 11.1%, to a record 160,000 barrels from 144,000 barrels in 2010. That offset lower production of conventional oil and natural gas.

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Gennum Corp., $13.52, symbol GND on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 35.6 million; Market cap: $481.7 million; www.gennum.com), has accepted a takeover offer from U.S.-based Semtech Corp. (Nasdaq symbol SMTC). Gennum designs electronic equipment and computer chips that let television broadcasters store, edit and transfer video signals without losing picture quality. It also designs chips that make computer networks faster. Semtech is offering $13.55 in cash for each Gennum share. That means the takeover price won’t drop as it might if Semtech was paying with shares instead. For example, Semtech shares could drop along with the market on any negative economic news, like a worsening of the European debt crisis....

Ten oil sands operators have already agreed to use Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline, which would let them ship more of their oil to Asia. These companies have also pledged a total of $200 million to fund the new line’s initial development and engineering. Enbridge has not said which oil companies have committed to the pipeline, but this group likely includes Suncor, Imperial Oil and Cenovus. SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $35 (Toronto symbol SU; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $56.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.3; Dividend yield: 1.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.suncor.com) became Canada’s largest integrated oil company in 2009, when it merged with Petro-Canada. It gets 60% of its production from its oil sands projects in Alberta; the remaining 40% is conventional oil and natural gas. Suncor also operates four refineries and 1,500 gas stations under the Petro-Canada banner....

IMPERIAL OIL LTD., $47.37, Toronto symbol IMO, reported sharply higher earnings for 2011, mainly due to rising oil prices and higher production. During the year, the company earned $3.4 billion, or $3.95 a share. That beat the consensus estimate of $3.55 a share. The 2011 earnings are also up 52.5% from $2.2 billion, or $2.59 a share, in 2010. Revenue rose 22.4%, to $30.7 billion from $25.1 billion. Cash flow per share rose 33.1%, to $4.70 from $3.53. Imperial gets most of its oil from its Cold Lake oil sands project in Alberta. Cold Lake’s daily production rose 11.1%, to a record 160,000 barrels in 2011 from 144,000 barrels in 2010. That helped offset lower production of conventional oil and natural gas. In all, Imperial produced an average of 297,000 barrels of oil equivalent (including natural gas) in 2011, up 1.0% from 294,000 barrels in 2010....

IMPERIAL OIL $47.67 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 850.5 million; Market cap: $39.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.0%; www.imperialoil.ca) reports that its earnings rose 25.5% in the three months ended December 31, 2011, to $1.18 a share from $0.94 a share. Revenue rose 17.1%, to $8.1 billion from $6.9 billion. Imperial has also raised its quarterly dividend by 9.1%, to $0.12 a share from $0.11. The new annual rate of $0.48 yields 1.0%. The company has paid dividends every year for over a century, and it has raised its payout for seventeen straight years. Imperial Oil is still a buy.

IMPERIAL OIL $46.03 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 850.5 million; Market cap: $39.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.0%; www.imperialoil.ca) is a major integrated-oil company that gets most of its production from its oil sands projects in Alberta. Imperial also has conventional oil and natural-gas operations in western Canada, and it holds interests in offshore projects in Atlantic Canada.

In the three months ended September 30, 2011, Imperial’s earnings jumped 105.5%, to $859 million, or $1.01 a share. A year earlier, it earned $418 million, or $0.49 a share. Imperial increased its oil sands production and benefited from rising oil prices and improved refinery profits. Revenue rose 35.8%, to $7.9 billion from $5.9 billion.

Imperial’s production is set to keep rising thanks to its new oil sands operations, including the $10.9-billion Kearl project, which is more than 80% complete. Imperial owns 71% of Kearl. ExxonMobil Corp. (New York symbol XOM) owns the remaining 29%. Exxon also holds a 69.6% interest in Imperial.

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