Imperial rides the energy rebound

Article Excerpt

Oil prices have more than doubled over the last year to today’s price of roughly $83 U.S. a barrel. Natural gas prices are also up. Increased industrial activity is driving those gains as the world recovers from the pandemic. Still, energy prices will likely remain subject to wide and unpredictable swings—spurred by continually changing supply and demand, environmental pressures, and the shift to electric vehicles. Nonetheless, the near-term outlook for oil and gas prices remains bright, and that’s a big plus for producers like Imperial Oil, and its investors. IMPERIAL OIL LTD., $41.66, is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares o/s: 704.6 million; Market cap: $30.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 2.6%; 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. Thanks to improving oil prices, Imperial’s revenue jumped 71.8% in the quarter ended September 30, 2021, to $10.2 billion from $6.0 billion. Moreover,…