Insider Selling: Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Director Sells 45,006 Shares of Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) Director Michael Bennett Medline sold 45,006 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$56.68, for a total transaction of C$2,550,940.08.

Michael Bennett Medline also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, June 24th, Michael Bennett Medline sold 45,474 shares of Empire stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$55.89, for a total value of C$2,541,541.86.
• On Friday, June 20th, Michael Bennett Medline sold 44,508 shares of Empire stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$55.19, for a total transaction of C$2,456,396.52.

Empire Stock Up 0.4%

TSE EMP.A traded up C$0.21 on Friday, hitting C$56.43. 191,328 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 474,823. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The company has a market cap of C$7.92 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of C$52.86 and a 200-day moving average of C$47.76. Empire Company Limited has a 12 month low of C$35.05 and a 12 month high of C$57.10.

Empire Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from Empire's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Empire's dividend payout ratio is 29.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Desjardins upped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. 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 note on Friday, June 20th. Scotiabank lifted 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. CIBC lifted their target price on Empire from C$55.00 to C$59.00 in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Empire has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of C$57.43.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.