Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$48.57.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Desjardins boosted their price target on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research report on Sunday, December 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th.

Empire Stock Performance

Shares of EMP.A stock opened at C$42.35 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. Empire has a 52 week low of C$31.45 and a 52 week high of C$46.77. The stock has a market capitalization of C$5.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.46, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$43.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$40.80.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Empire

In related news, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 8,458 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.48, for a total transaction of C$376,211.84. Also, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 4,587 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$43.81, for a total transaction of C$200,956.47. Over the last three months, insiders sold 96,154 shares of company stock valued at $4,305,270. Corporate insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

Empire Company Profile

Empire Co Ltd key businesses are food retailing, investments, and other operations. The food retailing division operates through Empire’s subsidiary Sobeys and represents nearly all of the company’s income. This segment owns, affiliates, or franchises more than 1,500 stores in 10 provinces, under retail banners including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, Lawton’s Drug Stores, and multiple retail fuel locations.