Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average Following Insider Selling

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report)'s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday following insider buying activity. 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 trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$48.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of 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. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$55.00 to C$59.00 in a research report on Friday, June 20th. National Bankshares boosted their target price on shares of Empire from C$53.00 to C$59.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Empire from C$49.00 to C$62.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Four 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 presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of C$57.43.

Empire Trading Down 0.3%

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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is C$54.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$48.65. The stock has a market cap of C$7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.25, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This is a positive change from Empire's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Empire's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.20%.

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.