Imperial is still a great pick as oil stabilizes

Article Excerpt

Oil prices continue to recover as COVID-19 lockdowns end. It seems likely that prices will remain firm as the economy further opens. We continue to recommend all investors maintain some exposure to oil, particularly with high-quality integrated producers like Imperial Oil. IMPERIAL OIL LTD. $34 is a buy. This company (Toronto symbol IMO; Conservative and Income Growth Portfolios, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 704.6 million; Market cap: $24.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.imperialoil.ca) gets about 60% of its production from oil sands operations in Alberta. Imperial also has conventional oil and natural gas operations in the West and holds stakes in projects off the coast of Atlantic Canada. Imperial’s other operations include three refineries (one in Alberta, two in Ontario) and a petrochemical plant in Sarnia, Ontario. It also supplies gasoline to over 2,000 Esso and Mobil gas stations in Canada. ExxonMobil (New York symbol XOM) owns 69.6% of Imperial shares. In the three months ended June 30,…