Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Receives C$38.71 Average PT from Brokerages

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$38.71.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EMP.A. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Empire from C$37.00 to C$35.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$41.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. National Bankshares upped their price objective on Empire from C$40.00 to C$41.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Desjardins increased their price target on Empire from C$38.00 to C$40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th.

Insider Activity at Empire

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

Empire Stock Up 0.1 %

EMP.A stock opened at C$35.51 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 133.75, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of C$5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.76, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average of C$33.22 and a 200-day moving average of C$33.69. Empire has a fifty-two week low of C$31.45 and a fifty-two week high of C$40.69.

Empire Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This is a boost from Empire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is 24.17%.

About Empire

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.