Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Director Michael Bennett Medline Sells 75,844 Shares

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Director Michael Bennett Medline sold 75,844 shares of Empire stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.83, for a total transaction of C$3,400,086.52.

Empire Price Performance

Shares of TSE EMP.A opened at C$44.40 on Thursday. 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 Company Limited has a fifty-two week low of C$31.45 and a fifty-two week high of C$46.77. The stock has a market cap of C$6.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of C$41.64 and a 200-day moving average of C$38.06.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EMP.A. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Desjardins lifted their price target on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a report on Sunday. 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. CIBC boosted their target price on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Empire presently has a consensus 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.