Empire Company Limited Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.20 (TSE:EMP.A)

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 15th, TickerTech reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of 0.20 per share on Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th.

Empire Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of TSE:EMP.A traded up C$0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting C$41.18. 418,300 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 415,437. The stock has a market capitalization of C$5.78 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50 day moving average is C$38.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$35.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. Empire has a one year low of C$31.45 and a one year high of C$41.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$36.32, for a total value of C$108,960.00. In other news, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 4,525 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$39.66, for a total transaction of C$179,461.50. Also, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$36.32, for a total transaction of C$108,960.00. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,269 shares of company stock worth $788,772. 2.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EMP.A shares. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Desjardins increased their price target on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$43.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. National Bankshares increased their price target on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Empire from C$38.00 to C$44.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$43.14.

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.