Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Scotiabank Analyst Says

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at Scotiabank from C$53.00 to C$58.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank’s price target suggests a potential upside of 15.58% from the company’s previous close.

EMP.A has been the subject of a number of other research reports. National Bankshares set a C$59.00 price target on shares of Empire and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of Empire from C$55.00 to C$59.00 in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of 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. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Empire from C$48.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Desjardins lifted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$56.86.

Empire Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of TSE:EMP.A opened at C$50.18 on Friday. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$54.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$51.49. The firm has a market cap of C$11.62 billion, a PE ratio of 17.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.27. Empire has a 12-month low of C$38.52 and a 12-month high of C$58.32.

Insider Activity at Empire

In other news, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 4,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$55.79, for a total transaction of C$249,660.25. Also, Director Michael Bennett Medline sold 45,474 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$55.89, for a total transaction of C$2,541,541.86. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 206,858 shares of company stock valued at $11,591,674. Company insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

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.