Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$38.64 and traded as high as C$44.02. Empire shares last traded at C$43.89, with a volume of 180,600 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Desjardins increased their price objective on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Sunday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Empire has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of C$48.57.

Empire Trading Up 0.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The firm's 50-day moving average is C$42.23 and its 200 day moving average is C$38.80. The firm has a market capitalization of C$6.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Empire's dividend payout ratio is 29.20%.

Insider Activity at Empire

In other news, Director Michael Bennett Medline sold 75,844 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.83, for a total value of C$3,400,086.52. Also, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 8,458 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$44.48, for a total transaction of C$376,211.84. Insiders sold 101,004 shares of company stock worth $4,505,138 over the last three months. Company 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.