Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Trading Up 6.7% - Time to Buy?

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) shares traded up 6.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as C$56.08 and last traded at C$55.37. 93,396 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 486,708 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$51.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EMP.A shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Empire from C$50.00 to C$56.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Desjardins lifted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$55.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Empire from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a report on Friday, March 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of C$51.00.

Empire Trading Up 5.6%

The firm has a market cap of C$7.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$50.72 and a 200-day moving average of C$46.44.

Empire Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. Empire's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Empire

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 1,852 shares of Empire stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$46.16, for a total transaction of C$85,488.32. Also, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 12,269 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$48.22, for a total value of C$591,611.18. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,338 shares of company stock worth $687,103. 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.

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