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

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$48.64 and traded as high as C$50.78. Empire shares last traded at C$49.98, with a volume of 635,569 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on EMP.A. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Empire from C$61.00 to C$55.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Empire from C$57.00 to C$52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 12th. National Bank Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Empire from C$58.00 to C$54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Desjardins lowered their target price 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. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered their target price on shares of Empire from C$59.00 to C$53.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$52.83.

Empire Stock Up 1.1%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$48.14 and a 200 day moving average of C$48.64. The firm has a market cap of C$11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.60, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51.

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported C$0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$7.89 billion for the quarter. Empire had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 2.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Empire Company Limited will post 2.9581227 earnings per share for the current year.

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. 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.