Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as C$46.85 and last traded at C$46.83, with a volume of 155418 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$46.26.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMP.A has been the subject of several research reports. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Empire from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Desjardins boosted their target price on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Sunday, December 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$48.86.

Empire Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of C$6.49 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average is C$43.50 and its 200 day moving average is C$42.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51.

Empire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. Empire’s payout ratio is 29.20%.

Insider Transactions at Empire

In related news, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.11, for a total value of C$33,832.37. Insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

About Empire

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.