Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$74.39.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays set a C$72.00 price target on Emera and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. TD raised their price objective on Emera from C$75.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Emera from C$74.50 to C$75.25 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. National Bank Financial upped their target price on Emera from C$69.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Desjardins increased their target price on Emera from C$69.00 to C$70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th.

Emera Trading Up 1.7%

EMA stock opened at C$75.59 on Wednesday. Emera has a 52 week low of C$61.63 and a 52 week high of C$76.45. The company has a market capitalization of C$23.12 billion, a PE ratio of 23.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is C$72.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$70.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 168.83, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Emera (TSE:EMA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Emera had a net margin of 13.20% and a return on equity of 7.90%. The firm had revenue of C$2.81 billion during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Emera will post 3.1991627 earnings per share for the current year.

Emera Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.7325 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $2.93 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Emera’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Emera news, insider Richard Janega sold 16,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$74.25, for a total value of C$1,225,125.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$1,458,418.50. This trade represents a 45.65% decrease in their position. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Emera

Emera (TSX/NYSE: EMA) is a leading North American provider of energy services headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with investments in regulated electric and natural gas utilities, and related businesses and assets. The Emera family of companies delivers safe, reliable energy to approximately 2.7 million customers in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Our team of 7,800 employees is committed to our purpose of energizing modern life and delivering a cleaner energy future for all. Emera’s common and preferred shares are listed and trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and its common shares are listed and trade on the New York Stock Exchange.