Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Simon Gagne Sells 4,475 Shares

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 4,475 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$55.79, for a total transaction of C$249,660.25.

Empire Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Empire stock traded down C$0.15 during trading on Monday, reaching C$56.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 575,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 477,564. The firm's 50-day moving average is C$52.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$47.90. Empire Company Limited has a 52-week low of C$35.05 and a 52-week high of C$57.10. The company has a market cap of C$7.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. 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 Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EMP.A. National Bankshares upped 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 report on Friday, June 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target 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. CIBC lifted their price target on Empire from C$55.00 to C$59.00 in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Empire from C$49.00 to C$62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, Desjardins increased their target price on Empire from C$50.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Four 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.com, the company currently 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.