Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$43.14.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Empire from C$41.00 to C$42.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Desjardins upped their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$43.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. TD Securities upped their target price on Empire from C$38.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, National Bankshares raised their price target on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th.

Empire Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Empire stock opened at C$39.31 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$37.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$34.61. Empire has a 12-month low of C$31.45 and a 12-month high of C$41.38. 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 stock has a market cap of C$5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.47.

Empire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a $0.20 dividend. This is a boost from Empire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. Empire’s payout ratio is 29.20%.

Insider Activity

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$36.32, for a total transaction of C$108,960.00. In other news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$36.32, for a total value of C$108,960.00. Also, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 4,525 shares of Empire stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$39.66, for a total value of C$179,461.50. Insiders sold a total of 11,761 shares of company stock valued at $441,650 in the last 90 days. 2.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Empire

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.