Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Director Sells C$3,400,086.52 in Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Director Michael Bennett Medline sold 75,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.83, for a total value of C$3,400,086.52.

Empire Price Performance

TSE:EMP.A traded up C$0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching C$44.40. 409,021 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 408,254. The company has a market capitalization of C$6.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.20, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. Empire Company Limited has a 1-year low of C$31.45 and a 1-year high of C$46.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of C$41.58 and a 200 day moving average of C$37.99.

Empire Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is currently 29.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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