Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Receives C$38.86 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$38.43.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. National Bankshares lowered their price target on Empire from C$41.00 to C$40.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. TD Securities dropped their price target on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. CIBC reduced their price objective on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$40.00 in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Empire from C$49.00 to C$43.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Desjardins reduced their price target on Empire from C$40.00 to C$39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th.

Empire Stock Performance

Shares of TSE EMP.A opened at C$31.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 133.75, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.29. Empire has a one year low of C$31.45 and a one year high of C$40.69. The business’s 50-day moving average price is C$33.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$35.46. The company has a market capitalization of C$4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.47.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.1825 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.17%.

Empire Company Profile

Empire Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the food retail and related real estate businesses in Canada. It operates through two segments, Food Retailing, and Investments and Other Operations. The company owns, affiliates, and franchises approximately 1,500 retail stores under various retail banners, including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, and Lawtons Drugs; and approximately 350 retail fuel locations.