Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$42.15 and last traded at C$42.14, with a volume of 78392 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$41.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on EMP.A. National Bankshares upped their price objective on shares of 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. CIBC increased their price target on Empire from C$40.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Empire from C$40.00 to C$43.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. TD Securities increased their target price on Empire from C$38.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Desjardins lifted their price target on Empire from C$42.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$43.71.

Empire Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of C$5.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$40.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$37.00.

Empire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders 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 1.89%. Empire’s payout ratio is 29.20%.

Insider Transactions at Empire

In related news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total value of C$199,868.50. Also, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 4,525 shares of Empire 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. Insiders sold a total of 13,033 shares of company stock valued at $526,583 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

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.