Empire Company Limited (EMP.A) To Go Ex-Dividend on January 15th

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 15th,TickerTech Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th.

Empire Price Performance

Shares of TSE EMP.A traded down C$0.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching C$43.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 378,192. The stock has a 50-day moving average of C$42.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$39.35. The stock has a market capitalization of C$6.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.92, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79. Empire has a 1-year low of C$31.45 and a 1-year high of C$46.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 8,458 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.48, for a total transaction of C$376,211.84. Also, Director Michael Bennett Medline sold 75,844 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$44.83, for a total transaction of C$3,400,086.52. Insiders have sold 96,154 shares of company stock worth $4,305,270 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Empire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$48.57.

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.