Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

by · The Markets Daily

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A – Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$38.71.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. TD Securities raised their price objective on Empire from C$36.00 to C$38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$41.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 21st. Desjardins upped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$38.00 to C$40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$35.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th.

Read Our Latest Report on EMP.A

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William Linton sold 7,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$34.39, for a total transaction of C$242,690.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$30,087.05. 1.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Empire Price Performance

Shares of TSE:EMP.A opened at C$35.07 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of C$5.12 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 133.75, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of C$33.29 and a 200-day moving average of C$33.70. Empire has a one year low of C$31.45 and a one year high of C$40.69.

Empire Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change from Empire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Empire’s payout ratio is presently 24.17%.

Empire Company Profile

(Get Free Report

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.

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