Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Receives C$38.86 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings 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 analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$38.86.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EMP.A. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Empire from C$49.00 to C$43.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. National Bankshares decreased their price objective on Empire from C$41.00 to C$40.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. CIBC decreased their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$40.00 in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Empire from C$43.00 to C$39.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 15th.

Empire Stock Up 0.5 %

TSE EMP.A opened at C$32.85 on Friday. Empire has a 52 week low of C$32.12 and a 52 week high of C$40.69. The firm has a market capitalization of C$4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.10, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$34.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$36.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 130.52.

Empire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 31st were issued a $0.1825 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 12th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.66%.

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.