Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Receives C$43.71 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$43.71.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EMP.A shares. National Bankshares raised their price objective on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$38.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Desjardins raised their target price on Empire from C$42.00 to C$44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on Empire from C$40.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th.

Empire Stock Down 0.6 %

EMP.A stock opened at C$41.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of C$5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.32, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average is C$40.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$37.18. Empire has a fifty-two week low of C$31.45 and a fifty-two week high of C$42.36.

Empire Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is 29.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 3,658 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$40.26, for a total value of C$147,252.79. Also, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of Empire stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total value of C$199,868.50. Insiders have sold a total of 13,033 shares of company stock worth $526,583 in the last 90 days. 2.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Empire Company Profile

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.