Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as C$46.85 and last traded at C$46.83, with a volume of 155418 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$46.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EMP.A shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. TD Securities raised their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Desjardins increased their price objective on Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Sunday, December 15th. Scotiabank upgraded Empire from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, CIBC raised their price target on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$48.86.

Empire Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$43.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$41.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of C$6.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 767 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.11, for a total value of C$33,832.37. 2.18% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.