Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$38.86.

EMP.A has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. National Bankshares decreased their target price on Empire from C$41.00 to C$40.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Desjardins dropped their price target on Empire from C$40.00 to C$39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Empire from C$37.00 to C$35.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, CIBC lowered their target price on Empire from C$42.00 to C$40.00 in a research note on Friday, March 1st.

Empire Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of TSE:EMP.A opened at C$31.80 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$33.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$35.59. The company has a market capitalization of C$4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.47. Empire has a 52 week low of C$31.45 and a 52 week high of C$40.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 133.75, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a $0.1825 dividend. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Empire’s payout ratio is 24.17%.

Empire Company Profile

Empire Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the food retail and related real estate businesses in Canada. It operates through two segments, Food Retailing, and Investments and Other Operations. The company owns, affiliates, and franchises approximately 1,500 retail stores under various retail banners, including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, and Lawtons Drugs; and approximately 350 retail fuel locations.