TD Securities Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its price target lifted by TD Securities from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research note published on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. TD Securities currently has a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on EMP.A. CIBC increased their target price on Empire from C$40.00 to C$47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. National Bankshares lifted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Empire from C$43.00 to C$44.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Desjardins lifted their price target on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Empire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$48.14.

Empire Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of EMP.A opened at C$44.69 on Friday. Empire has a one year low of C$31.45 and a one year high of C$46.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of C$41.44 and a 200 day moving average price of C$37.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of C$6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 3,658 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total transaction of C$199,868.50. Corporate 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.