Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Key Points

• Empire Company's stock price has exceeded its 200-day moving average, currently trading at C$55.74, signaling strong performance in the market.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded their price targets for Empire, with Scotiabank raising its target to C$63.00 and Desjardins to C$55.00, reflecting positive sentiment around the stock.
• The company has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.20 to $0.22 per share, highlighting its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report)'s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$50.36 and traded as high as C$57.50. Empire shares last traded at C$55.74, with a volume of 509,171 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on EMP.A shares. TD Securities boosted their price objective 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. CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$55.00 to C$59.00 in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$62.00 to C$63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Desjardins boosted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, National Bankshares set a C$59.00 price objective on shares of Empire and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of C$57.57.

Empire Price Performance

The firm's fifty day moving average price is C$55.74 and its 200 day moving average price is C$50.66. The firm has a market capitalization of C$7.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.57, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. This is a boost from Empire's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. Empire's payout ratio is currently 29.20%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$56.10, for a total transaction of C$84,150.00. Also, Director Michael Bennett Medline sold 45,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$56.51, for a total transaction of C$2,543,797.65. Insiders sold a total of 206,858 shares of company stock valued at $11,591,674 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.18% of the company's stock.

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.