Emera (TSE:EMA) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Desjardins raised their price target on the stock from C$70.00 to C$74.00. Desjardins currently has a hold rating on the stock. Emera traded as high as C$77.80 and last traded at C$76.38, with a volume of 789544 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$77.18.

EMA has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America increased their target price on Emera from C$73.00 to C$74.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. National Bank Financial lifted their price target on Emera from C$69.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Emera from C$74.50 to C$75.25 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. TD increased their price objective on shares of Emera from C$75.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Barclays set a C$72.00 price objective on shares of Emera and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$74.75.

Insider Activity

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

Emera Trading Down 1.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 168.83, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of C$23.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.36, a P/E/G ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is C$73.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$71.48.

Emera (TSE:EMA) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of C$2.81 billion for the quarter. On average, research analysts expect that Emera Incorporated will post 3.1991627 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Emera Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.7325 dividend. This represents a $2.93 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Emera’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.14%.

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.