Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Price Target Raised to C$55.00

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its target price boosted by CIBC from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,BayStreet.CA reports.

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

Empire Stock Performance

Shares of TSE EMP.A opened at C$44.69 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is C$41.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$37.84. Empire has a 52-week low of C$31.45 and a 52-week high of C$46.77. The company has a market cap of C$6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Empire’s payout ratio is 29.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Empire

In related news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total transaction of C$199,868.50. Also, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 3,658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$40.26, for a total value of C$147,252.79. Company insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

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.