Cut oil risk with Imperial

Article Excerpt

IMPERIAL OIL $39.69 (Toronto symbol IMO; Shares outstanding: 837.6 million; Market cap: $33.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 1.6%; www.imperialoil.ca) is Canada’s second-largest publicly traded oil company, after Suncor. ExxonMobil (New York symbol OM) owns 69.6% of Imperial. Oil prices are above $61 U.S. a barrel, for the first time in over 30 months. That’s due to a cutback in production by major exporters OPEC and Russia. Supply disruptions in the North Sea and North Africa— along with stronger global demand and an unexpected drop in U.S. production— also contributed to higher oil prices. The future direction of prices depends on several things, particularly continuing economic growth around the world. Meanwhile, though, we think a good way for safety-conscious investors to cut risk is to stick with larger integrated oil producers such as Imperial Oil. That company has a long history of adapting to uncertain prices. Lower crude prices also enhance the profitability of its large oil-refining operations. Imperial Oil is a buy…