Empire (EMP.A) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Empire Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the food retail and related real estate businesses in Canada. It operates through two segments, Food Retailing, and Investments and Other Operations. The company owns, affiliates, and franchises approximately 1,500 retail stores under various retail banners, including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, and Lawtons Drugs; and approximately 350 retail fuel locations. It also owns interest in Crombie Real Estate Investment Trust, an open-ended Canadian real estate investment trust to sell and leaseback a portfolio of 19 retail properties; and various equity accounted interests in Genstar real estate partnerships that develop residential real estate properties in Ontario, Western Canada, and the United States. The company was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Stellarton, Canada.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: C$39.60 to C$41.03
• 50-Day Range: C$38.43 to C$41.50
• 52-Week Range: C$31.45 to C$42.00
• Volume: 324,436 shs
• Average Volume: 409,961 shs
• Market Capitalization: C$5.76 billion
• P/E Ratio: 14.97
• Dividend Yield: 1.95%
• Price Target: C$43.71
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Empire Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Empire scored higher than 42% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.2 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Empire has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.43, and is based on 3 buy ratings, 4 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Empire has been the subject of 6 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.3 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: N/A

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Empire is 14.97, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 123.44.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Empire is 14.97, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Consumer Defensive sector average P/E ratio of about 207.34.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Empire has a PEG Ratio of 16.20. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Empire has a P/B Ratio of 1.82. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: N/A
• Short Interest Level: N/A

Short Interest

There is no current short interest data available for EMP.A.

Dividend

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Weak

Dividend Yield

Empire pays a meaningful dividend of 1.96%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Empire does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Empire is 29.20%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: N/A
• Environmental Score: N/A

Short Interest

There is no current short interest data available for EMP.A.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.6 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.59

News Sentiment

Empire has a news sentiment score of 0.59. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.41 average news sentiment score of Consumer Defensive companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 5 news articles for Empire this week, compared to 3 articles on an average week.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Empire insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought C$0.00 in company stock and sold C$526,583.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 2.18% of the stock of Empire is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

40.86% of the stock of Empire is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

EMP.A Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have EMP.A shares performed this year?

Empire's stock was trading at C$35.05 at the beginning of the year. Since then, EMP.A stock has increased by 17.1% and is now trading at C$41.03.
View the best growth stocks for 2024 here.

How do I buy shares of Empire?

Shares of EMP.A stock and other Canadian stocks can be purchased through an online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the Canadian stock market include BMO InvestorLine, CIBC Investor's Edge, Desjardins Online Brokerage, HSBC InvestDirect, Laurentian Bank Discount Brokerage, National Bank Direct Brokerage, Qtrade Investor, Questrade, RBC Direct Investing, Scotia iTrade, TD Direct Investing, and Virtual Brokers.
Compare Top Brokerages Here.

Company Calendar

• Ex-Dividend for 10/31 Dividend: 10/15/2024
• Dividend Payable: 10/31/2024
• Today: 11/21/2024

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: TSE
• Sector: Consumer Defensive
• Industry: Grocery Stores
• Sub-Industry: Misc.
• Current Symbol: TSE:EMP.A
• CUSIP: N/A
• CIK: N/A
• Web: www.empireco.ca
• Phone: +1-902-7554440
• Fax: N/A
• Employees: 125,000
• Year Founded: N/A

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: C$43.71
• High Stock Price Target: C$47.00
• Low Stock Price Target: C$36.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +6.5%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.43
• Research Coverage: 7 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): C$2.74
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 14.97
• Forward P/E Ratio: 13.87
• P/E Growth: 16.2
• Net Income: C$672 million
• Net Margins: 2.18%
• Pretax Margin: N/A
• Return on Equity: 12.94%
• Return on Assets: 4.60%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 135.51
• Current Ratio: 0.79
• Quick Ratio: 0.29

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: C$30.87 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.19
• Cash Flow: C$1.61 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 25.50
• Book Value: C$22.51 per share
• Price / Book: 1.82

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 140,410,000
• Free Float: N/A
• Market Cap: C$5.76 billion
• Optionable: Not Optionable
• Beta: 0.48