Two top safety-conscious recommendations

Article Excerpt

Here are two of our leading safety-conscious stock recommendations. Both have prospects for strong growth in their respective industries. Each is a buy. IMPERIAL OIL LTD., $78.61, is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 584.2 million; Market cap: $47.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 2.5%; www.imperialoil.ca) is Canada’s third-largest publicly traded oil company after Canadian Natural Resources (No. 1) and Suncor. U.S.-based ExxonMobil (New York symbol XOM) owns 69.6% of the company. In the quarter ended June 30, 2023, Imperial’s revenue fell 31.7%, to $11.8 billion from $17.3 billion a year earlier. Oil prices decreased as the global oil market saw higher inventory levels. Earnings declined 72.0%, to $675.0 million from $2.4 billion; due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share earnings fell 68.0%, to $1.16 from $3.63. While oil prices have eased in 2023, Imperial continues to reward investors. With the July 2023 payment, it raised your quarterly dividend by 13.6%, to $0.50 a share from $0.44. The new annual rate of $2.00…