Desjardins Boosts Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Price Target to C$55.00

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its price target upped by Desjardins from C$50.00 to C$55.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,BayStreet.CA reports.

EMP.A has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$56.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Scotiabank raised shares of Empire from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Empire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$51.00.

Empire Stock Performance

Shares of TSE:EMP.A opened at C$51.46 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of C$50.61 and a 200-day moving average of C$46.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79. Empire has a twelve month low of C$31.60 and a twelve month high of C$54.21. The firm has a market cap of C$7.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. Empire’s payout ratio is presently 29.20%.

Insider Activity

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 12,269 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$48.22, for a total value of C$591,611.18. Also, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 1,852 shares of Empire stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$46.16, for a total transaction of C$85,488.32. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,338 shares of company stock valued at $687,103. 2.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.