Desjardins Increases Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Price Target to C$40.00

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its target price upped by Desjardins from C$38.00 to C$40.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. Desjardins currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$40.00 in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$41.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. TD Securities decreased their target price on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. National Bankshares raised their target price on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$41.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Four investment 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 company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of C$38.71.

Empire Stock Performance

TSE:EMP.A opened at C$35.04 on Monday. Empire has a twelve month low of C$31.45 and a twelve month high of C$40.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 133.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$32.90 and a 200-day moving average of C$33.74. The firm has a market cap of C$5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.46.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.1825 per share. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. Empire’s payout ratio is presently 24.17%.

Insider Activity at Empire

In related news, Director William Linton sold 7,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$34.39, for a total transaction of C$242,690.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$30,087.05. Insiders own 1.99% of the company’s stock.

About Empire

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.