Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$38.86.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. National Bankshares reduced their price objective on shares of Empire from C$41.00 to C$40.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. CIBC cut their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$40.00 in a report on Friday, March 1st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Empire from C$49.00 to C$43.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Desjardins lowered their price objective on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th.

Empire Stock Performance

Shares of EMP.A opened at C$31.80 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$33.47 and a 200 day moving average price of C$35.59. The firm has a market capitalization of C$4.64 billion, a PE ratio of 10.53, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.47. Empire has a 52-week low of C$31.45 and a 52-week high of C$40.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 133.75.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.1825 per share. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Empire’s payout ratio is 24.17%.

Empire Company Profile

Empire Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the food retail and related real estate businesses in Canada. It operates through two segments, Food Retailing, and Investments and Other Operations. The company owns, affiliates, and franchises approximately 1,500 retail stores under various retail banners, including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, and Lawtons Drugs; and approximately 350 retail fuel locations.