Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Royal Bank of Canada Analyst Says

Empire (TSE:EMP.A - Free Report) had its price target upped by Royal Bank of Canada from C$50.00 to C$56.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports.

Separately, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Empire from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a report on Friday, March 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Empire has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of C$50.29.

Empire Price Performance

EMP.A traded down C$0.36 during trading on Wednesday, hitting C$51.84. 573,447 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 495,663. The company has a market cap of C$7.28 billion, a PE ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is C$50.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$46.17. Empire has a 1 year low of C$31.60 and a 1 year high of C$54.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51.

Empire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. Empire's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 1,852 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$46.16, for a total value of C$85,488.32. Also, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 5,354 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.96, for a total transaction of C$240,715.84. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,459 shares of company stock worth $961,651. Company insiders own 2.18% of the company's stock.

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.