Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report)'s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$47.26 and traded as high as C$56.52. Empire shares last traded at C$55.24, with a volume of 396,755 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on EMP.A shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on Empire from C$49.00 to C$62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. CIBC upped their price objective on Empire from C$55.00 to C$59.00 in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Empire from C$56.00 to C$61.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Empire from C$48.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Desjardins lifted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Empire currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of C$57.43.

Empire Stock Up 0.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of C$52.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$47.42. The firm has a market cap of C$7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. This is a boost from Empire's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Empire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.20%.

Insider Transactions at Empire

In other news, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$54.91, for a total value of C$32,946.00. Also, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 8,772 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$55.80, for a total transaction of C$489,477.60. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 104,280 shares of company stock worth $5,795,794. 2.18% of the stock is 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.