Matthew Reindel Sells 4,587 Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 4,587 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$43.81, for a total value of C$200,956.47.

Empire Stock Performance

Shares of EMP.A opened at C$43.99 on Wednesday. Empire Company Limited has a one year low of C$31.45 and a one year high of C$46.77. The company has a market cap of C$6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average of C$41.89 and a 200-day moving average of C$38.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is 29.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMP.A has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, National Bankshares raised their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$48.57.

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.