Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from C$43.00 to C$44.00. The stock traded as high as C$42.36 and last traded at C$42.19, with a volume of 4261 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$42.06.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on EMP.A. TD Securities upped their price target on Empire from C$38.00 to C$44.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Desjardins raised their target price on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, National Bankshares boosted their target price on shares of 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Empire presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$43.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total transaction of C$199,868.50. Also, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 4,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$39.66, for a total transaction of C$179,461.50. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,033 shares of company stock worth $526,583. Corporate insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

Empire Stock Up 1.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of C$5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.26, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is C$40.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$37.18.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.20%.

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.