Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Simon Gagne Sells 12,269 Shares

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 12,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$48.22, for a total value of C$591,611.18.

Empire Stock Down 2.2 %

EMP.A stock opened at C$47.92 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of C$44.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$42.73. The company has a market cap of C$6.73 billion, a PE ratio of 17.49, 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. Empire Company Limited has a 52 week low of C$31.45 and a 52 week high of C$49.28.

Empire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. Empire’s payout ratio is 29.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on EMP.A. TD Securities upped their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. CIBC raised their price target on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Desjardins upped their price target on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a report on Sunday, December 15th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Empire from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$48.86.

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.