Emera (TSE:EMA) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Shares of Emera Incorporated hit a new 52-week high of C$67.63, trading with a volume of 69,397 shares on Friday.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Emera, with Scotiabank setting the highest target at C$72.00 while maintaining an "outperform" rating.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.725 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 4.3% despite a high payout ratio of 98.05%.

Shares of Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$67.63 and last traded at C$67.62, with a volume of 69397 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$67.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EMA has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Emera from C$65.00 to C$68.00 in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Emera from C$69.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. CIBC cut Emera from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from C$65.00 to C$68.00 in a report on Monday, August 11th. National Bankshares lifted their price target on Emera from C$60.00 to C$62.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Emera from C$70.00 to C$72.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of C$64.50.

Emera Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of C$20.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94, a PEG ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$65.45 and a 200 day moving average of C$62.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 150.23, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Emera Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $2.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. Emera's payout ratio is presently 98.05%.

Insider Activity at Emera

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

About Emera

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.

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