Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A)’s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$48.68 and traded as high as C$50.56. Empire shares last traded at C$50.11, with a volume of 529,377 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Empire from C$58.00 to C$50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. National Bank Financial cut their price target on shares of Empire from C$58.00 to C$54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Desjardins cut their price target on shares of Empire from C$60.00 to C$53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their price target on shares of Empire from C$59.00 to C$53.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Empire from C$57.00 to C$52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$52.83.

Empire Trading Down 0.6%

The firm has a market cap of C$11.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of -0.04. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is C$48.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$48.68.

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported C$0.72 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$7.89 billion for the quarter. Empire had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 12.94%. As a group, analysts expect that Empire Company Limited will post 2.9581227 earnings per share for the current year.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Empire’s payout ratio is currently 128.36%.

Empire Company Profile

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. The company’s investment and other operations segment include the investment in Crombie REIT, which is an open-ended Canadian real estate investment trust, as well as the Genstar Development Partnership.