Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Rating Upgraded by BMO Capital Markets

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) was upgraded by BMO Capital Markets from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report issued on Monday,BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has a C$58.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 16.40% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on EMP.A. Scotiabank cut shares of Empire from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a C$52.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price target on shares of Empire from C$54.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Friday, June 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$55.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 19th. Desjardins lifted their target price on Empire from C$53.00 to C$56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, National Bank Financial boosted their target price on Empire from C$54.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Empire currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$55.00.

Empire Stock Performance

Shares of EMP.A stock opened at C$49.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of C$11.22 billion, a PE ratio of 57.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of -0.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average of C$48.96 and a 200-day moving average of C$48.26. Empire has a one year low of C$43.81 and a one year high of C$58.32.

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 18th. The company reported C$0.94 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$7.81 billion for the quarter. Empire had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 12.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Empire will post 2.9581227 earnings per share for the current 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.