Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Has Average Price Target of C$53.67 According to Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst consensus is “Hold”: Six of nine covering firms rate Empire Company Limited as a hold, while three recommend buying. The average 12-month price target is C$53.67, above the reported opening price of C$48.87.
• Recent quarterly results were solid: Empire reported C$1.04 in quarterly EPS and C$8.47 billion in revenue, with a 12.94% return on equity and a 2.18% net margin.
• Dividend yield is approximately 2%: The company declared a quarterly dividend of C$0.2425 per share, or C$0.97 annualized, though its dividend payout ratio is relatively high at 91.16%.

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the nine research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$53.67.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EMP.A shares. Scotia cut their price objective on Empire from C$50.00 to C$48.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price target on Empire from C$54.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company an "outperformer" rating in a research report on Friday, June 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$55.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 19th. TD reduced their price target on Empire from C$53.00 to C$52.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, National Bank Financial cut their price objective on shares of Empire from C$56.00 to C$54.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 11th.

Empire Price Performance

EMP.A stock opened at C$48.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$10.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.36, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of -0.21. The firm's 50-day moving average price is C$48.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$48.58. 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 has a 12-month low of C$43.81 and a 12-month high of C$52.64.

Empire (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 10th. The company reported C$1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Empire had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 2.18%.The company had revenue of C$8.47 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that Empire will post 2.9581227 earnings per share for the current year.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.2425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $0.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Empire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.16%.

Empire Company Profile

Empire Company Limited TSX: EMP.A is a Canadian company headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Empire's key businesses are food retailing, through wholly-owned subsidiary Sobeys Inc, and related real estate. With approximately $32 billion in annual sales and $17 billion in assets, Empire and its subsidiaries, franchisees and affiliates employ approximately 130,000 people. Additional financial information relating to Empire, including the Company's Annual Information Form, can be found on the Company's website at www.empireco.ca or on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.