Emera (TSE:EMA) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$53.83 and last traded at C$53.81, with a volume of 128625 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$53.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EMA shares. Raymond James increased their price target on Emera from C$54.00 to C$57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Emera from C$57.00 to C$60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. CIBC reduced their price target on Emera from C$51.00 to C$50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. National Bankshares increased their price target on Emera from C$49.00 to C$54.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Emera from C$52.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$52.10.

Emera Trading Up 0.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of C$15.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a PEG ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of C$51.34 and a 200-day moving average of C$48.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 155.62, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Emera (TSE:EMA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 9th. The company reported C$0.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.56 by C($0.03). The business had revenue of C$1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$1.67 billion. Emera had a net margin of 10.83% and a return on equity of 6.60%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Emera Incorporated will post 3.1991627 EPS for the current year.

Emera Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.725 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $2.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.40%. Emera’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.84%.

About Emera

Emera Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity to various customers. The company operates through Florida Electric Utility, Canadian Electric Utilities, Other Electric Utilities, Gas Utilities and Infrastructure, and Other segments.