Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$53.76 and last traded at C$53.52, with a volume of 29065 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$52.97.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Scotiabank raised Empire from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of C$48.86.

Empire Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$49.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$45.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of C$7.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Empire's payout ratio is 29.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Empire

In other news, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 12,269 shares of Empire stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$48.22, for a total transaction of C$591,611.18. Also, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 5,354 shares of Empire stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.96, for a total transaction of C$240,715.84. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,459 shares of company stock valued at $961,651. 2.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.