Brokerages Set Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Price Target at C$43.14

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$43.14.

EMP.A has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. National Bankshares lifted 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. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Desjardins lifted their price target on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$38.00 to C$44.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$43.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 4,525 shares of Empire stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$39.66, for a total transaction of C$179,461.50. In other Empire news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$36.32, for a total transaction of C$108,960.00. Also, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 4,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$39.66, for a total value of C$179,461.50. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,761 shares of company stock valued at $441,650. 2.15% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Empire Stock Performance

TSE EMP.A opened at C$38.85 on Friday. Empire has a fifty-two week low of C$31.45 and a fifty-two week high of C$41.38. The firm has a market capitalization of C$5.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$37.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$34.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 134.59, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Empire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This is a positive change from Empire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.40%.

Empire Company Profile

Empire Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the food retail and related real estate businesses in Canada. It operates through two segments, Food Retailing, and Investments and Other Operations. The company owns, affiliates, and franchises approximately 1,500 retail stores under various retail banners, including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, and Lawtons Drugs; and approximately 350 retail fuel locations.