Emera (TSE:EMA) Sets New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Shares of Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as C$54.19 and last traded at C$53.88, with a volume of 640213 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$53.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EMA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Emera from C$57.00 to C$60.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. CIBC cut their price objective on Emera from C$51.00 to C$50.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Emera from C$54.00 to C$57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America set a C$55.00 price target on Emera and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Emera from C$52.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Emera presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of C$52.10.

Emera Stock Down 0.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 155.62. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$51.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$48.84. The firm has a market capitalization of C$15.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.80, a P/E/G ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.35.

Emera (TSE:EMA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The company reported C$0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.56 by C($0.03). Emera had a return on equity of 6.60% and a net margin of 10.83%. The company had revenue of C$1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$1.67 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Emera Incorporated will post 3.1991627 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Emera Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $0.725 dividend. This represents a $2.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Emera's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.84%.

Emera Company Profile

Emera Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity to various customers. The company operates through Florida Electric Utility, Canadian Electric Utilities, Other Electric Utilities, Gas Utilities and Infrastructure, and Other segments.