Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Sells C$376,211.84 in Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 8,458 shares of Empire stock in a transaction that occurred 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.

Empire Trading Up 0.2 %

Empire stock traded up C$0.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting C$44.46. The company had a trading volume of 297,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 407,658. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of C$6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$41.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$37.99. Empire Company Limited has a 1 year low of C$31.45 and a 1 year high of C$46.77.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EMP.A has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. National Bankshares lifted their target price on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. CIBC lifted their target price on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. TD Securities upped their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Desjardins raised their target price on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Sunday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Empire has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$48.57.

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.