Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Matthew Reindel Sells 4,587 Shares of Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 4,587 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$43.81, for a total transaction of C$200,956.47.

Empire Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of TSE EMP.A opened at C$43.92 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of C$41.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$38.27. The company has a market cap of C$6.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. Empire Company Limited has a 12 month low of C$31.45 and a 12 month high of C$46.77. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on EMP.A shares. Desjardins boosted their target price on Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a report on Sunday, December 15th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. National Bankshares boosted their price target on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, TD Securities raised 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 report on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$48.57.

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.