Here are two safety-conscious blue-chip buys

Article Excerpt

Here are two of our top safety-conscious recommendations. Both have growth ahead. Look for that to spur their share prices and your returns. IMPERIAL OIL LTD., $101.02, is a #1 Buy for 2024. The company (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares o/s: 523.4 million; Market cap: $52.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 2.4% www.imperialoil.ca) gets over 90% of its production from the oil sands of Alberta. It also has conventional oil and gas operations in the West and holds stakes in offshore projects in Atlantic Canada. Other operatio include three refineries (one in Alberta, two in Ontario) and a petrochemical plant in Sarnia, Ontario. In the quarter ended September 30, 2024, Imperial produced an average 447,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. That’s up 5.7% from 423,000 a year earlier. However, due to lower oil prices, cash flow in the latest quarter fell 7.7%, to $1.80 billion from $1.95 billion; on fewer shares outstanding, cash flow per share rose 0.6%, to $3.39 from $3.37. Imperial has targeted spending a..