Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$43.86.

Several brokerages have weighed in on EMP.A. Desjardins upped their price target on Empire from C$42.00 to C$44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Empire from C$43.00 to C$44.00 in a report on Monday. TD Securities increased their price objective on Empire from C$38.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, National Bankshares increased their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th.

Empire Price Performance

Shares of TSE EMP.A opened at C$42.66 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is C$40.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$37.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29. Empire has a 1-year low of C$31.45 and a 1-year high of C$42.92. The company has a market cap of C$5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.20%.

Insider Activity at Empire

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 4,525 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$39.66, for a total transaction of C$179,461.50. Also, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total value of C$199,868.50. Insiders sold a total of 13,033 shares of company stock valued at $526,583 in the last three months. 2.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.