Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent Sells 5,354 Shares

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 5,354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.96, for a total value of C$240,715.84.

Empire Stock Performance

Shares of TSE:EMP.A traded up C$0.14 on Monday, hitting C$46.35. 229,697 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 554,351. 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’s 50 day moving average price is C$43.50 and its 200 day moving average price is C$42.08. Empire Company Limited has a 1-year low of C$31.45 and a 1-year high of C$46.91. The firm has a market capitalization of C$6.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on EMP.A. Scotiabank raised shares of Empire from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. TD Securities lifted their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Desjardins increased their price objective on Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a report on Sunday, December 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research note 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$48.86.

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.