Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its price target boosted by BMO Capital Markets from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research note published on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. National Bankshares lifted their target price on shares of 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. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. CIBC upped their price target on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Empire has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$48.14.

Empire Stock Down 1.3 %

EMP.A stock opened at C$44.69 on Friday. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of C$41.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$37.78. The stock has a market capitalization of C$6.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. Empire has a 52 week low of C$31.45 and a 52 week high of C$46.77.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.20%.

Insider Activity at Empire

In related news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of Empire stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were 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 3,658 shares of Empire stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$40.26, for a total transaction of C$147,252.79. 2.18% of the stock is currently 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.