Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Receives C$48.86 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$48.86.

A number of research analysts have commented on EMP.A shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank upgraded Empire from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a report on Friday, March 14th. Desjardins increased their target price on Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research report on Sunday, December 15th. 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. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target 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.

Insider Transactions at Empire

In other news, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 767 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$44.11, for a total transaction of C$33,832.37. Also, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 12,269 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$48.22, for a total transaction of C$591,611.18. Insiders have sold 20,459 shares of company stock valued at $961,651 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

Empire Trading Down 3.8 %

EMP.A stock opened at C$46.12 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of C$6.48 billion, a PE ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is C$44.49 and its 200 day moving average is C$42.78. Empire has a 12 month low of C$31.50 and a 12 month high of C$49.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. 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.