Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Emera Incorporated has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from eleven research firms, with six analysts recommending a buy and five a hold.
• The average twelve-month price target for Emera shares among brokerages is C$64.33, signifying potential growth opportunities.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.725 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 4.5% and a payout ratio of 98.05%.

Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$64.33.

Several equities analysts have commented on EMA shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Emera from C$67.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded Emera from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Emera from C$69.00 to C$70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Emera from C$66.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Emera from C$69.00 to C$74.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Emera

In other news, Director Archibald Collins sold 30,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$64.95, for a total transaction of C$1,987,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,045 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$847,272.75. This represents a 70.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Judy Ann Steele sold 794 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$64.90, for a total value of C$51,530.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 352 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$22,844.80. This represents a 69.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,494 shares of company stock valued at $3,213,691. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Emera Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of EMA traded down C$0.83 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting C$63.69. 766,207 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,215,229. The stock's 50-day moving average is C$64.63 and its 200-day moving average is C$61.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 150.23, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.72. Emera has a fifty-two week low of C$49.06 and a fifty-two week high of C$67.42. The company has a market cap of C$19.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.59, a P/E/G ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.55.

Emera Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.725 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $2.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Emera's dividend payout ratio is presently 98.05%.

Emera Company Profile

Emera is a geographically diverse energy and services company investing in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution as well as gas transmission and utility energy services. Emera has operations throughout North America and the Caribbean countries.