Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Sells C$591,611.18 in Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 12,269 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$48.22, for a total transaction of C$591,611.18.

Empire Trading Up 0.1 %

EMP.A stock traded up C$0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching C$46.11. 515,858 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 565,607. The stock's fifty day moving average is C$44.74 and its 200-day moving average is C$42.98. The company has a market cap of C$6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. Empire Company Limited has a 52-week low of C$31.50 and a 52-week high of C$49.28.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Empire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on EMP.A. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. TD Securities upped their price objective on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Desjardins raised their target price on Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Sunday, December 15th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Empire from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Empire has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of C$48.86.

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.