Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$40.39 and traded as high as C$43.06. Empire shares last traded at C$42.98, with a volume of 399,263 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EMP.A. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Securities lifted their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Desjardins increased their target price on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Sunday, December 15th. Four investment 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, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of C$48.57.

Empire Price Performance

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 market cap of C$6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of C$43.34 and a 200 day moving average price of C$40.39.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. Empire's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.20%.

Insider Activity

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 8,458 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.48, for a total transaction of C$376,211.84. Also, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 4,587 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$43.81, for a total transaction of C$200,956.47. Over the last three months, insiders sold 96,154 shares of company stock valued at $4,305,270. Insiders own 2.18% of the company's stock.

About Empire

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.

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