The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, Dec. 30, edition that its Megastar portfolio outperformed the market by 9.4 percentage points since last year. The Globe's Norman Rothery writes that Imperial Oil was included in last years Megastar portfolio and remains on it for this year. It is one of The Globe's top 20 picks for this year. Imperial Oil is a large integrated oil and gas company based in Calgary that pays a 2.7-per-cent yield. The company cut its share count by about 7.3 per cent over the past four quarters and completed a substantial issuer bid in December to repurchase another 3.4 per cent. Imperial Oil is a subsidiary of U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil, which owns about 69.6 per cent of the company's stock. The Globe reported on Oct. 13 that National Bank Financial analysts Travis Wood and Dan Payne continued to rate Imperial Oil "sector perform." The shares could then be had for $83.12. The Globe reported on Nov. 2 that TD Securities analyst Menno Hulshof had reaffirmed his "buy" recommendation for Imperial Oil. The shares were then going for $80.41. The Globe reported on Nov. 8 that RBC Capital analyst Greg Pardy was sticking with his "sector perform" call for Imperial Oil when it could be had for $76.93.