Brokerages Set Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Target Price at C$48.57

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$48.57.

EMP.A has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Desjardins raised their price objective on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a report on Sunday, December 15th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th.

Empire Stock Down 3.4 %

EMP.A stock opened at C$43.58 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of C$43.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$41.70. Empire has a 52-week low of C$31.45 and a 52-week high of C$46.77. The stock has a market capitalization of C$6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is 29.20%.

Insider Activity at Empire

In related news, Director Michael Bennett Medline sold 75,844 shares of the business’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 Matthew Reindel sold 4,587 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$43.81, for a total transaction of C$200,956.47. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 96,154 shares of company stock valued at $4,305,270. 2.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.