Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Price Target to C$41.00

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its price objective trimmed by Royal Bank of Canada from C$42.00 to C$41.00 in a research report released on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

EMP.A has been the subject of a number of other reports. Desjardins reduced their price objective on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$39.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$40.00 in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$35.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Empire presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of C$38.29.

Empire Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of EMP.A stock opened at C$34.21 on Friday. Empire has a 52-week low of C$31.45 and a 52-week high of C$40.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 133.75, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$32.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$33.83. The company has a market capitalization of C$4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.46.

Empire Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.1825 per share. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William Linton sold 7,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$34.39, for a total value of C$242,690.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$30,087.05. Insiders own 1.99% of the company’s stock.

Empire Company Profile

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.