Empire Company Limited to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.20 (TSE:EMP.A)

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 15th,TickerTech Dividends reports. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th.

Empire Stock Performance

Empire stock opened at C$43.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$42.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$39.35. Empire has a 52-week low of C$31.45 and a 52-week high of C$46.77. The firm has a market capitalization of C$6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.95, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. CIBC raised their target price on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Desjardins raised their target price on Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Sunday, December 15th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$48.57.

Insider Transactions at Empire

In related news, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 4,587 shares of Empire stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$43.81, for a total value of C$200,956.47. Also, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 8,458 shares of Empire stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.48, for a total value of C$376,211.84. Insiders have sold a total of 96,154 shares of company stock valued at $4,305,270 over the last 90 days. 2.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.