Insider Selling: Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Director Sells 44,508 Shares of Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) Director Michael Bennett Medline sold 44,508 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$55.19, for a total value of C$2,456,396.52.

Empire Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of TSE EMP.A traded down C$0.82 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting C$55.45. 119,335 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 486,122. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. Empire Company Limited has a 1 year low of C$34.14 and a 1 year high of C$56.80. The stock has a market capitalization of C$7.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day moving average of C$51.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$46.79.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. Empire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on EMP.A shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Empire from C$56.00 to C$61.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Desjardins boosted their price target on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. National Bankshares upped their price target 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. 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. Finally, Scotiabank upped 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of C$57.43.

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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