Imperial Oil ( NYSE: IMO ) +3% in Tuesday's trading after TD Securities upgraded shares to Buy from Hold with a C$73 price target, citing several factors including the possibility of another special dividend.
TD analyst Menno Hulshof said he sees "strong potential" for a second substantial issuer bid or Imperial Oil's ( IMO ) first special dividend since 1994, potentially before year-end, after CEO Brad Corson said on the Q2 earnings conference call that the company would assess various options for returning additional capital to shareholders.
During Q2, Imperial Oil ( IMO ) returned more than C$2.7B to shareholders through dividends and completion of a C$2.5B substantial issuer bid program.
Hulshof said Imperial Oil ( IMO ) boasts a "best-in-class" balance sheet, with net debt to total capitalization of only 13%, and noted the stock pulled back 20% since a June 8 peak.
Imperial Oil ( IMO ) recently reported Q2 GAAP earnings of C$3.63/share on revenues of C%17.3B .
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Imperial Oil on the rise as TD upgrades, sees possible special dividend