Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Scotiabank Analyst Says

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its price objective lifted by investment analysts at Scotiabank from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. Scotiabank’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 5.03% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on EMP.A. Desjardins upped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. TD Securities upped their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Empire from C$43.00 to C$44.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, National Bankshares upped their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$48.14.

Empire Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of EMP.A traded down C$0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting C$44.75. 203,114 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 406,110. Empire has a 1-year low of C$31.45 and a 1-year high of C$46.77. 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 company has a market capitalization of C$6.28 billion, a PE ratio of 16.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of C$41.37 and a 200 day moving average of C$37.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 3,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$40.26, for a total transaction of C$147,252.79. Also, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total value of C$199,868.50. Insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

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.