Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Price Target Raised to C$50.00

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its price target lifted by Desjardins from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research report sent to investors on Sunday,BayStreet.CA reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on EMP.A. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. TD Securities raised their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. National Bankshares upped their price target on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Empire currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$48.57.

Empire Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of TSE EMP.A opened at C$44.39 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is C$41.58 and its 200 day moving average is C$37.99. Empire has a 52 week low of C$31.45 and a 52 week 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. The company has a market cap of C$6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Empire

In related news, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 3,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$40.26, for a total transaction of C$147,252.79. Also, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total transaction of C$199,868.50. Corporate insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

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.