Emera (TSE:EMA) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from C$78.00 to C$80.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. Emera traded as high as C$77.80 and last traded at C$76.38, with a volume of 789544 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$77.18.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Emera from C$74.50 to C$75.25 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. TD upped their price objective on shares of Emera from C$75.00 to C$77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Barclays set a C$72.00 target price on shares of Emera and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Emera from C$73.00 to C$74.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, National Bank Financial boosted their price target on shares of Emera from C$69.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$75.27.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Richard Janega sold 16,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$74.25, for a total value of C$1,225,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 19,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,458,418.50. The trade was a 45.65% decrease in their position. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Emera Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 168.83, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of C$23.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.10, a PEG ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is C$73.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$71.53.

Emera (TSE:EMA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported C$1.37 EPS for the quarter. Emera had a net margin of 13.20% and a return on equity of 7.90%. The company had revenue of C$2.81 billion during the quarter. On average, analysts expect that Emera Incorporated will post 3.1991627 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Emera Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.7325 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This represents a $2.93 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Emera’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.14%.

About Emera

Emera (TSX/NYSE: EMA) is a leading North American provider of energy services headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with investments in regulated electric and natural gas utilities, and related businesses and assets. The Emera family of companies delivers safe, reliable energy to approximately 2.7 million customers in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Our team of 7,800 employees is committed to our purpose of energizing modern life and delivering a cleaner energy future for all. Emera’s common and preferred shares are listed and trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and its common shares are listed and trade on the New York Stock Exchange.