Scotiabank Issues Positive Forecast for Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Price

Key Points

• Scotiabank has raised its price objective for Empire (TSE:EMP.A) from C$53.00 to C$58.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.61% from its previous close.
• Multiple brokerages, including National Bankshares and Royal Bank of Canada, have set higher price targets for EMP.A, with the average target price now at C$56.86.
• Empire stock has experienced a recent decline of 1.6%, trading at C$50.17 amid lower trading volumes.

Empire (TSE:EMP.A - Free Report) had its price target increased by Scotiabank from C$53.00 to C$58.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. Scotiabank currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities increased their price target on Empire from C$48.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. CIBC increased their target price on Empire from C$55.00 to C$59.00 in a report on Friday, June 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Empire from C$56.00 to C$61.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Desjardins boosted their target price on Empire from C$50.00 to C$55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, National Bankshares set a C$59.00 price objective on shares of Empire and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Empire presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of C$56.86.

Empire Stock Up 0.3%

EMP.A traded up C$0.14 during trading on Friday, reaching C$48.99. 415,794 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 446,476. The stock has a market cap of C$11.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock's 50 day moving average price is C$54.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$51.53. Empire has a twelve month low of C$38.52 and a twelve month high of C$58.32.

Empire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a positive change from Empire's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Empire's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.52%.

Insider Activity at Empire

In related news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 8,772 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$55.80, for a total value of C$489,477.60. Also, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$56.10, for a total transaction of C$84,150.00. Insiders have sold a total of 206,858 shares of company stock valued at $11,591,674 in the last quarter. 2.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.