Douglas Bigler Nathanson Sells 7,265 Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 7,265 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$45.15, for a total transaction of C$328,014.75.

Douglas Bigler Nathanson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, September 25th, Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 3,658 shares of Empire stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$40.26, for a total value of C$147,252.79.

Empire Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of TSE EMP.A opened at C$43.22 on Friday. Empire Company Limited has a 52-week low of C$31.45 and a 52-week high of C$46.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company’s 50 day moving average price is C$41.71 and its 200-day moving average price is C$38.11. The company has a market capitalization of C$6.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EMP.A has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Desjardins lifted their target price on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research report on Sunday, December 15th. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, National Bankshares increased their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$48.57.

About Empire

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.