Emera (TSE:EMA) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Desjardins raised their price target on the stock from C$64.00 to C$68.00. Desjardins currently has a hold rating on the stock. Emera traded as high as C$69.62 and last traded at C$69.20, with a volume of 1373286 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$69.05.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Emera from C$69.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Emera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Emera from C$65.00 to C$68.00 in a research report on Monday, August 11th. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Emera from C$69.00 to C$74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, CIBC increased their price target on shares of Emera from C$68.00 to C$71.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$65.25.

Insider Activity at Emera

In related news, Director Judy Ann Steele sold 18,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$64.90, for a total value of C$1,174,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$22,844.80. This trade represents a 98.09% decrease in their position. Also, Director Archibald Collins sold 30,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$64.95, for a total transaction of C$1,987,470.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$847,272.75. This represents a 70.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders sold a total of 49,494 shares of company stock valued at $3,213,691 over the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Emera Stock Up 0.2%

The business’s 50 day moving average is C$66.06 and its 200-day moving average is C$63.27. The stock has a market cap of C$20.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 150.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.72.

Emera Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.725 per share. This represents a $2.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Emera’s payout ratio is 98.05%.

About Emera

Emera is a geographically diverse energy and services company investing in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution as well as gas transmission and utility energy services. Emera has operations throughout North America and the Caribbean countries.