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

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$48.57.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EMP.A shares. CIBC raised their price target on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Desjardins raised their price objective on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Sunday, December 15th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 8,458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 4,587 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$43.81, for a total value of C$200,956.47. Insiders sold 96,154 shares of company stock valued at $4,305,270 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

Empire Stock Down 0.9 %

EMP.A stock opened at C$43.10 on Friday. Empire has a twelve month low of C$31.45 and a twelve month high of C$46.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The firm has a market cap of C$6.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of C$43.10 and a 200 day moving average of C$39.94.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Empire’s payout ratio is currently 29.20%.

About Empire

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.