Emera (TSE:EMA) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as C$56.72 and last traded at C$56.43, with a volume of 162781 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$56.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EMA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cibc World Mkts raised Emera from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. National Bankshares upped their price target on Emera from C$54.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Emera from C$54.00 to C$58.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. CIBC raised Emera from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from C$54.00 to C$58.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Emera from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from C$55.00 to C$57.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Emera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$57.30.

Emera Trading Up 1.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of C$16.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.97, a PEG ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 150.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$54.35 and a 200 day moving average of C$52.61.

Emera Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.12%. Emera’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.40%.

About Emera

Emera Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity to various customers. The company operates through Florida Electric Utility, Canadian Electric Utilities, Other Electric Utilities, Gas Utilities and Infrastructure, and Other segments.