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

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its target price hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,BayStreet.CA reports.

EMP.A has been the topic of a number of other reports. Desjardins lifted their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, CIBC raised their price target on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Empire currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$48.57.

Empire Stock Performance

Shares of EMP.A opened at C$44.69 on Friday. Empire has a 1 year low of C$31.45 and a 1 year high of C$46.77. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The company’s fifty day moving average is C$41.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$37.84.

Empire Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 3,658 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$40.26, for a total transaction of C$147,252.79. Also, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total transaction 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.