Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Price Target Raised to C$48.00

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its target price upped by TD Securities from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. TD Securities currently has a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on EMP.A. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. National Bankshares lifted their price target on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. CIBC upped their price objective 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. Desjardins lifted their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Empire from C$43.00 to C$44.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Empire has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$48.57.

Empire Trading Down 1.3 %

TSE EMP.A opened at C$44.69 on Friday. Empire has a 12 month low of C$31.45 and a 12 month high of C$46.77. 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 has a 50 day moving average of C$41.44 and a 200-day moving average of C$37.84. The company has a market cap of C$6.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.31, a PEG 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 Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Empire

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 3,658 shares of Empire stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$40.26, for a total value of C$147,252.79. Also, 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. Insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

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.