Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Share Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Empire shares rose above their 200-day moving average of C$48.51, reaching C$51.98 before closing at C$51.28 on volume of 518,028 shares.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but leans neutral: three analysts rate the stock a Buy and five rate it a Hold, producing a consensus “Hold” rating and a C$55.00 price target.
• Empire reported quarterly EPS of C$0.94 on C$7.81 billion in revenue and increased its quarterly dividend to C$0.2425, or C$0.97 annually, yielding about 1.9%.

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$48.51 and traded as high as C$51.98. Empire shares last traded at C$51.28, with a volume of 518,028 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their target price on shares of Empire from C$54.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company an "outperformer" rating in a research note on Friday, June 19th. Desjardins boosted their price target on Empire from C$53.00 to C$56.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Scotiabank cut Empire from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a C$52.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 9th. National Bank Financial raised their price objective on Empire from C$54.00 to C$55.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, TD lifted their price objective on Empire from C$50.00 to C$53.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of C$55.00.

Empire Stock Down 0.1%

The company has a market capitalization of C$11.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.63, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of -0.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of C$49.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$48.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51.

Empire (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The company reported C$0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$7.81 billion during the quarter. Empire had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 2.18%. Equities analysts expect that Empire Company Limited will post 2.9581227 EPS for the current year.

Empire Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were given a $0.2425 dividend. This represents a $0.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. This is a positive change from Empire's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. Empire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 102.33%.

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. The company's investment and other operations segment include the investment in Crombie REIT, which is an open-ended Canadian real estate investment trust, as well as the Genstar Development Partnership.

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