Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Given New C$47.00 Price Target at Desjardins

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its target price boosted by Desjardins from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research note published on Monday,BayStreet.CA reports. Desjardins currently has a buy rating on the stock.

EMP.A has been the topic of several other research reports. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$38.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. National Bankshares increased their price target on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Empire from C$43.00 to C$44.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. CIBC increased their target price on Empire from C$40.00 to C$47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Empire presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$44.29.

Empire Price Performance

TSE:EMP.A opened at C$43.03 on Monday. Empire has a 12-month low of C$31.45 and a 12-month high of C$43.77. The firm has a market cap of C$6.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is C$41.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$37.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51.

Empire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Empire

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total value of C$199,868.50. Also, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 4,525 shares of Empire stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$39.66, for a total transaction of C$179,461.50. Insiders have sold a total of 13,033 shares of company stock valued at $526,583 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

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.