Insider Selling: Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Sells 4,200 Shares of 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 stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The shares were 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 Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of EMP.A stock traded down C$0.68 during trading hours on Friday, reaching C$54.50. 193,717 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 455,953. The firm has a market capitalization of C$7.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.89, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. Empire Company Limited has a 12-month low of C$35.79 and a 12-month high of C$57.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The business's fifty day moving average is C$54.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$49.06.

Empire Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EMP.A shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective 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. National Bankshares increased their target price on 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. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Empire from C$48.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised 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 report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Empire from C$55.00 to C$59.00 in a research note 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.