Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$49.74 and traded as high as C$50.04. Empire shares last traded at C$49.43, with a volume of 403,485 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EMP.A has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. National Bank Financial dropped their target price on Empire from C$58.00 to C$54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Desjardins dropped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$60.00 to C$53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of Empire from C$58.00 to C$50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Empire from C$61.00 to C$55.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their price target on shares of Empire from C$59.00 to C$53.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Empire has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$52.83.

Empire Stock Up 1.0%

The company’s 50 day moving average is C$47.06 and its 200 day moving average is C$49.74. The company has a market cap of C$11.38 billion, a PE ratio of 16.76, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of -0.14. 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 (TSE:EMP.A) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The company reported C$0.69 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$8 billion for the quarter. Empire had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 12.94%. As a group, analysts predict that Empire Company Limited will post 2.9581227 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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. The company’s investment and other operations segment include the investment in Crombie REIT, which is an open-ended Canadian real estate investment trust, as well as the Genstar Development Partnership.