Matthew Reindel Sells 217 Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$46.10, for a total value of C$10,003.70.

Matthew Reindel also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 17th, Matthew Reindel sold 767 shares of Empire stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$44.11, for a total transaction of C$33,832.37.

Empire Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of TSE:EMP.A traded up C$0.14 during trading on Tuesday, reaching C$46.52. 45,227 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 549,139. Empire Company Limited has a 1-year low of C$31.45 and a 1-year high of C$46.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The firm has a market cap of C$6.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of C$43.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$42.14.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on EMP.A shares. Desjardins increased their price objective on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Sunday, December 15th. Scotiabank raised Empire from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. CIBC boosted their price objective on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$48.86.

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.