Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Director Michael Bennett Medline Sells 75,844 Shares

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Director Michael Bennett Medline sold 75,844 shares of Empire stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.83, for a total transaction of C$3,400,086.52.

Empire Stock Down 2.0 %

EMP.A stock opened at C$43.22 on Friday. Empire Company Limited has a twelve month low of C$31.45 and a twelve month high of C$46.77. The company has a market cap of C$6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of C$41.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$38.11.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. Empire’s payout ratio is 29.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Securities lifted their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, National Bankshares lifted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$48.57.

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.