Insider Selling: Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Sells 2,380 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Sandra Sanderson, a Senior Officer of Empire Company Limited, sold a total of 2,380 shares at an average price of C$56.00, amounting to C$133,280.00.
• Empire Company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.22 per share, an increase from the previous $0.20, representing a 1.6% dividend yield.
• Recent analyst reports show an increase in price targets for Empire, with Scotiabank raising theirs to C$62.00 and a consensus target price of C$57.43 across multiple analysts.

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A - Get Free Report) Senior Officer Sandra Sanderson sold 2,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$56.00, for a total transaction of C$133,280.00.

Sandra Sanderson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, June 23rd, Sandra Sanderson sold 4,526 shares of Empire stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$56.00, for a total transaction of C$253,456.00.

Empire Stock Performance

Shares of Empire stock traded down C$0.68 during trading on Monday, hitting C$54.50. 193,717 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 455,953. Empire Company Limited has a 1-year low of C$35.79 and a 1-year high of C$57.10. The stock has a market capitalization of C$7.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$54.47 and a 200-day moving average price of C$49.15. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.22 dividend. This is an increase from Empire's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Empire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on EMP.A shares. Desjardins raised 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. Scotiabank raised their price target 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. TD Securities raised their price target 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. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Empire from C$55.00 to C$59.00 in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, National Bankshares raised their price target 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Empire presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.