Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Sells C$200,956.47 in Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 4,587 shares of Empire stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$43.81, for a total transaction of C$200,956.47.

Empire Trading Up 1.6 %

EMP.A traded up C$0.70 during trading on Monday, hitting C$43.92. 318,041 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 410,680. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of C$41.76 and a 200 day moving average price of C$38.20. 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 1 year low of C$31.45 and a 1 year high of C$46.77. The firm has a market cap of C$6.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. Empire's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EMP.A has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Desjardins boosted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a report on Sunday, December 15th. CIBC boosted their price target on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. National Bankshares raised their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of C$48.57.

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.