Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$48.57.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. CIBC boosted their target price on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Desjardins raised their price objective on Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Sunday, December 15th.

Insider Activity at Empire

In other news, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 3,658 shares of the business's 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 shares were sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total value of C$199,868.50. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 104,662 shares of company stock valued at $4,652,391. 2.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Empire Price Performance

TSE EMP.A traded up C$0.07 during trading on Tuesday, reaching C$43.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 144,151 shares, compared to its average volume of 409,610. The stock has a market capitalization of C$6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05, 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 current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$41.83 and a 200 day moving average of C$38.27. Empire has a one year low of C$31.45 and a one year high of C$46.77.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Empire's payout ratio is 29.20%.

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.