Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average After Insider Selling

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$48.32 and traded as high as C$56.60. Empire shares last traded at C$56.09, with a volume of 223,670 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Empire from C$56.00 to C$61.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Empire from C$49.00 to C$62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. CIBC upped their target price on Empire from C$55.00 to C$59.00 in a report on Friday, June 20th. TD Securities upped their price target on Empire from C$48.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, National Bankshares upped their price objective on Empire from C$53.00 to C$59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Empire currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of C$57.43.

Empire Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$53.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$48.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of C$7.88 billion, a PE ratio of 20.47, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Increases Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. This is a positive change 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 presently 29.20%.

About Empire

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.

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