Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Given New C$55.00 Price Target at Desjardins

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its target price increased by Desjardins from C$50.00 to C$55.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,BayStreet.CA reports.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Scotiabank upgraded Empire from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Empire from C$50.00 to C$56.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$51.00.

Empire Price Performance

TSE EMP.A opened at C$51.46 on Tuesday. 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 has a market capitalization of C$7.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. Empire has a 12-month low of C$31.60 and a 12-month high of C$54.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$50.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$46.37.

Empire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Empire’s payout ratio is 29.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 1,852 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$46.16, for a total value of C$85,488.32. Also, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 12,269 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$48.22, for a total transaction of C$591,611.18. Insiders have sold a total of 14,338 shares of company stock valued at $687,103 over the last three months. 2.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.