Empire (TSE:EMP.A) PT Lowered to C$36.00 at Scotiabank

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its target price cut by Scotiabank from C$37.00 to C$36.00 in a research report released on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on EMP.A. CIBC dropped 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 dropped their target price on shares of Empire from C$49.00 to C$43.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$35.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Desjardins dropped their target price on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$39.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, National Bankshares dropped their target price on shares of Empire from C$41.00 to C$40.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$38.43.

Empire Stock Performance

EMP.A stock opened at C$31.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 133.75, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$33.32 and a 200 day moving average price of C$35.46. Empire has a fifty-two week low of C$31.45 and a fifty-two week high of C$40.69. The stock has a market capitalization of C$4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.47.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a $0.1825 dividend. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.17%.

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.