Simon Gagne Sells 8,458 Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 8,458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.48, for a total value of C$376,211.84.

Empire Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Empire stock opened at C$44.08 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$41.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$38.11. The stock has a market cap of C$6.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. 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 Company Limited has a 12-month low of C$31.45 and a 12-month high of C$46.77.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on EMP.A. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. National Bankshares increased their price target on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. CIBC increased their target price on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Empire has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$48.57.

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.