Empire (TSE:EMP.A) PT Raised to C$41.00 at National Bankshares

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its price objective increased by National Bankshares from C$40.00 to C$41.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. National Bankshares currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on EMP.A. CIBC cut their target price on Empire from C$42.00 to C$40.00 in a research report on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Empire from C$37.00 to C$35.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. TD Securities cut their target price on Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Desjardins cut their target price on Empire from C$40.00 to C$39.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of C$38.29.

Empire Price Performance

Shares of TSE EMP.A opened at C$34.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 133.75, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.80. Empire has a fifty-two week low of C$31.45 and a fifty-two week high of C$40.69. The firm has a market capitalization of C$4.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is C$32.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$33.83.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.1825 per share. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Empire news, Director William Linton sold 7,058 shares of Empire stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$34.39, for a total transaction of C$242,690.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$30,087.05. 1.99% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Empire

Empire Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the food retail and related real estate businesses in Canada. It operates through two segments, Food Retailing, and Investments and Other Operations. The company owns, affiliates, and franchises approximately 1,500 retail stores under various retail banners, including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, and Lawtons Drugs; and approximately 350 retail fuel locations.