Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Reaches New 52-Week High - Here's What Happened

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as C$56.08 and last traded at C$55.37, with a volume of 93396 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$51.90.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Desjardins boosted their price target on Empire from C$50.00 to C$55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. National Bankshares boosted their price objective on Empire from C$53.00 to C$59.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday. CIBC boosted their price objective on Empire from C$55.00 to C$59.00 in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Empire from C$56.00 to C$61.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on Empire from C$48.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of C$57.43.

Empire Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of C$7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of C$51.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$46.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Empire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Empire's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.20%.

Insider Transactions at Empire

In other news, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 12,269 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$48.22, for a total value of C$591,611.18. Also, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 1,852 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$46.16, for a total value of C$85,488.32. 2.18% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.