Emera (TSE:EMA) Hits New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Emera shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as C$76.62 and last changing hands near C$76.58. The move came alongside solid volume of 139,365 shares.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock, with six Buy ratings and four Hold ratings. The consensus price target is C$74.39, while TD has the highest recent target at C$77.00.
• The company continues to offer a sizable dividend, paying C$0.7325 quarterly for an annualized yield of 3.9%. However, its dividend payout ratio is high at 89.14%, and an insider recently sold a notable block of shares.

Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$76.62 and last traded at C$76.58, with a volume of 139365 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$76.17.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on EMA shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Emera from C$73.00 to C$74.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Emera from C$74.50 to C$75.25 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. National Bank Financial raised their price target on shares of Emera from C$69.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. TD lifted their price target on shares of Emera from C$75.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Barclays set a C$72.00 price objective on shares of Emera and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$74.39.

Emera Price Performance

The company's 50-day moving average price is C$73.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$71.22. The company has a market cap of C$23.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 168.83.

Emera (TSE:EMA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported C$1.37 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$2.81 billion for the quarter. Emera had a net margin of 13.20% and a return on equity of 7.90%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Emera Incorporated will post 3.1991627 earnings per share for the current year.

Emera Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.7325 dividend. This represents a $2.93 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. Emera's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.14%.

Insider Activity at Emera

In other news, insider Richard Janega sold 16,500 shares of Emera stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$74.25, for a total value of C$1,225,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$1,458,418.50. The trade was a 45.65% decrease in their position. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Emera Company Profile

Emera TSX/NYSE: EMA is a leading North American provider of energy services headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with investments in regulated electric and natural gas utilities, and related businesses and assets. The Emera family of companies delivers safe, reliable energy to approximately 2.7 million customers in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Our team of 7,800 employees is committed to our purpose of energizing modern life and delivering a cleaner energy future for all. Emera's common and preferred shares are listed and trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and its common shares are listed and trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

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