Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report)'s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$45.94 and traded as high as C$51.88. Empire shares last traded at C$51.28, with a volume of 183,011 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Empire from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$56.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Empire has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of C$50.29.

Empire Stock Down 0.7%

The stock has a market capitalization of C$7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The business's 50-day moving average is C$50.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$46.17. 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Empire's payout ratio is presently 29.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 5,354 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.96, for a total value of C$240,715.84. Also, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 12,269 shares of the company'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 transaction of C$591,611.18. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,459 shares of company stock worth $961,651. 2.18% of the stock is owned by 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.