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

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 15th,TickerTech Dividends reports. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th.

Empire Stock Performance

EMP.A traded down C$0.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting C$43.62. 10,338 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 378,192. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of C$42.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$39.35. Empire has a 12 month low of C$31.45 and a 12 month high of C$46.77. The stock has a market cap of C$6.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on EMP.A shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Desjardins raised their target price on shares of Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Sunday, December 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$48.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Empire

In related news, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 4,587 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$43.81, for a total transaction of C$200,956.47. Also, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 8,458 shares of Empire stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$44.48, for a total transaction of C$376,211.84. Insiders sold 96,154 shares of company stock worth $4,305,270 over the last ninety days. 2.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.