Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Receives C$48.57 Consensus PT from Analysts

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$48.57.

EMP.A has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Desjardins upped their price target on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Sunday, December 15th. CIBC lifted their price target on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. National Bankshares upped their price target on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th.

Empire Stock Performance

Shares of TSE:EMP.A opened at C$43.99 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The company has a market capitalization of C$6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$42.00 and a 200 day moving average of C$38.45. Empire has a 52 week low of C$31.45 and a 52 week high of C$46.77.

Empire Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Empire

In other news, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 7,265 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$45.15, for a total transaction of C$328,014.75. Also, Director Michael Bennett Medline sold 75,844 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.83, for a total transaction of C$3,400,086.52. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 101,004 shares of company stock worth $4,505,138. 2.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.