Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Price Target Raised to C$55.00

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its price target lifted by CIBC from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Friday. TD Securities lifted 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. Desjardins raised their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. National Bankshares upped their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Empire from C$43.00 to C$44.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Empire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$48.14.

Empire Stock Down 1.3 %

TSE EMP.A opened at C$44.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of C$6.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. Empire has a 1-year low of C$31.45 and a 1-year high of C$46.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of C$41.44 and a 200-day moving average of C$37.78.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders 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 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.20%.

Insider Transactions at Empire

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of Empire 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 3,658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$40.26, for a total value of C$147,252.79. Corporate insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

About Empire

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.