Brokerages Set Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Target Price at C$57.43

Key Points

• Empire Company Limited has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from analysts, with four recommending hold and three suggesting a buy.
• The average 1-year price target for Empire shares is C$57.43, with notable price increases from various analysts recently.
• Empire has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.20 to $0.22, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$57.43.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Securities upped their target price on Empire from C$48.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. CIBC upped their target price on Empire from C$55.00 to C$59.00 in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Desjardins upped their target price on Empire from C$50.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Empire from C$49.00 to C$62.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Empire from C$56.00 to C$61.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 8,772 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$55.80, for a total transaction of C$489,477.60. Also, Senior Officer Sandra Sanderson sold 4,526 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$56.00, for a total value of C$253,456.00. Insiders sold a total of 206,858 shares of company stock valued at $11,591,674 over the last 90 days. 2.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Empire Stock Down 0.3%

Empire stock traded down C$0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching C$55.47. The stock had a trading volume of 301,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 452,217. The company has a market cap of C$7.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The business's 50 day moving average price is C$54.75 and its 200-day moving average price is C$49.50. Empire has a 52 week low of C$36.16 and a 52 week high of C$57.10.

Empire Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. This is a positive change from Empire's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. Empire's payout ratio is 29.20%.

Empire Company Profile

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.