Pierre St-Laurent Sells 4,200 Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Stock

Key Points

• Empire Company Limited's Senior Officer, Pierre St-Laurent, sold 4,200 shares at an average price of C$55.70, totaling C$233,940. This follows a previous sale of 8,772 shares at an average price of C$55.80.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.20 to $0.22 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $0.88 and a yield of 1.58%.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Empire stock, with Scotiabank increasing it to C$62.00 and the average target price now at C$57.43, reflecting a consensus "Hold" rating.

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$55.70, for a total transaction of C$233,940.00.

Pierre St-Laurent also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, June 20th, Pierre St-Laurent sold 8,772 shares of Empire stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$55.80, for a total transaction of C$489,477.60.

Empire Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Empire stock traded down C$0.24 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting C$55.45. 182,918 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 459,084. Empire Company Limited has a twelve month low of C$35.79 and a twelve month high of C$57.10. The stock has a market capitalization of C$7.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$54.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$48.89. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from Empire's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Empire's payout ratio is 29.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Desjardins lifted their target price on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Empire from C$48.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. National Bankshares lifted their target price on shares of Empire from C$53.00 to C$59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Empire from C$56.00 to C$61.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Empire from C$49.00 to C$62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.