Desjardins Raises Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Price Target to C$44.00

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its price target boosted by Desjardins from C$42.00 to C$44.00 in a report released on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. Desjardins currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. CIBC boosted their price target on Empire from C$40.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Empire from C$41.00 to C$42.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Empire from C$40.00 to C$43.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday. National Bankshares lifted their price objective on Empire from C$41.00 to C$42.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price objective on Empire from C$38.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Empire currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of C$43.14.

Empire Trading Down 2.6 %

Empire stock opened at C$39.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 134.59, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.29. Empire has a one year low of C$31.45 and a one year high of C$41.38. The stock has a market capitalization of C$5.68 billion, a PE ratio of 13.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average is C$37.03 and its 200 day moving average is C$34.48.

Empire Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is a boost from Empire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is 27.40%.

Insider Transactions at Empire

In other news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 3,000 shares of the company’s 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. In other news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 3,000 shares of the business’s 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 Vivek Sood sold 4,236 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$36.17, for a total value of C$153,228.83. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 381 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$13,781.91. Insiders have sold 14,294 shares of company stock valued at $504,880 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

About Empire

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.