Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Price Target Raised to C$56.00

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its price objective upped by National Bank Financial from C$55.00 to C$56.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,BayStreet reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their target price on shares of Empire from C$54.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, June 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Empire from C$55.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, June 19th. TD upped their price target on Empire from C$50.00 to C$53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Empire from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a C$58.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Desjardins lifted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$53.00 to C$56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Empire has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$54.56.

Empire Stock Performance

Shares of EMP.A stock opened at C$47.94 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79. Empire has a 52 week low of C$43.81 and a 52 week high of C$52.93. The company’s 50 day moving average price is C$49.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$48.84. The company has a market capitalization of C$10.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of -0.20.

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The company reported C$0.94 earnings per share for the quarter. Empire had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of C$7.81 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts expect that Empire will post 2.9581227 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Empire Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were given a $0.2425 dividend. This is an increase from Empire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 102.33%.

Empire Company Profile

Empire Company Limited (TSX: EMP.A) is a Canadian company headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Empire’s key businesses are food retailing, through wholly-owned subsidiary Sobeys Inc, and related real estate. With approximately $32 billion in annual sales and $17 billion in assets, Empire and its subsidiaries, franchisees and affiliates employ approximately 130,000 people. Additional financial information relating to Empire, including the Company’s Annual Information Form, can be found on the Company’s website at www.empireco.ca or on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.