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

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as C$42.15 and last traded at C$42.14, with a volume of 78392 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$41.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on EMP.A. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Desjardins lifted their target price on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Empire from C$38.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$43.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Empire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$43.71.

Empire Stock Up 0.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The firm has a market cap of C$5.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$40.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$37.00.

Empire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.20%.

Insider Activity at Empire

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of the business’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 value of C$199,868.50. Also, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 4,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$39.66, for a total transaction of C$179,461.50. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,033 shares of company stock valued at $526,583. Company insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

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.