Insider Selling: Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Sells 8,458 Shares of Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 8,458 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$44.48, for a total value of C$376,211.84.

Empire Price Performance

Shares of Empire stock traded up C$0.07 on Wednesday, reaching C$44.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 297,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 407,658. 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$6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of C$41.58 and a 200-day moving average price of C$37.99. Empire Company Limited has a 52-week low of C$31.45 and a 52-week high of C$46.77.

Empire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EMP.A. Desjardins raised their target price on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a report on Sunday. National Bankshares boosted their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$48.57.

Empire Company Profile

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.