Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$50.36 and traded as high as C$57.50. Empire shares last traded at C$55.74, with a volume of 509,171 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on Empire from C$62.00 to C$63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Desjardins increased their price target on Empire from C$50.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. CIBC increased their price target on Empire from C$55.00 to C$59.00 in a report on Friday, June 20th. National Bankshares increased their price objective on Empire from C$53.00 to C$59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Empire from C$56.00 to C$61.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$57.57.

Empire Trading Down 3.0%

The stock has a market cap of C$7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average is C$55.56 and its 200 day moving average is C$50.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51.

Empire Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Empire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. Empire’s payout ratio is presently 29.20%.

Insider Activity at Empire

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 8,772 shares of Empire stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$55.80, for a total transaction of C$489,477.60. Also, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 1,500 shares of Empire stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$56.10, for a total transaction of C$84,150.00. Insiders have sold a total of 206,858 shares of company stock valued at $11,591,674 in the last quarter. 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.