Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$47.35 and last traded at C$47.28, with a volume of 73855 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$46.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Empire Stock Performance

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 stock’s fifty day moving average is C$44.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$42.52. The firm has a market capitalization of C$6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.20%.

Insider Activity

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 5,354 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.96, for a total value of C$240,715.84. Also, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 767 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$44.11, for a total value of C$33,832.37. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,190 shares of company stock valued at $370,040. 2.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.