Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Sells C$10,003.70 in Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 217 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$46.10, for a total transaction of C$10,003.70.

Matthew Reindel also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 24th, Matthew Reindel sold 1,852 shares of Empire stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$46.16, for a total transaction of C$85,488.32.
• On Monday, March 17th, Matthew Reindel sold 767 shares of Empire stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.11, for a total transaction of C$33,832.37.

Empire Stock Performance

Empire stock opened at C$46.42 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of C$43.79 and a 200-day moving average of C$42.26. The company has a market capitalization of C$6.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. Empire Company Limited has a 1 year low of C$31.45 and a 1 year high of C$46.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Empire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. Empire’s payout ratio is currently 29.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on EMP.A. CIBC upped their target price on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Desjardins upped their price objective on Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research report on Sunday, December 15th. Scotiabank upgraded Empire from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a research report on Friday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$48.86.

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.