Emera (TSE:EMA) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as C$59.96 and last traded at C$59.92, with a volume of 394577 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$59.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on EMA shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Emera from C$54.00 to C$59.00 in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Emera from C$51.00 to C$56.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. National Bankshares raised their price objective on shares of Emera from C$54.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Emera from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Emera from C$60.00 to C$63.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$58.18.

Emera Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 150.23, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market capitalization of C$17.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.38, a PEG ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is C$57.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$54.27.

Emera Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.725 per share. This represents a $2.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Emera’s payout ratio is 112.40%.

About Emera

Emera Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity to various customers. The company operates through Florida Electric Utility, Canadian Electric Utilities, Other Electric Utilities, Gas Utilities and Infrastructure, and Other segments.