Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$42.15 and last traded at C$42.14, with a volume of 78392 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$41.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on EMP.A. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Desjardins lifted their price target on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$43.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, National Bankshares boosted their target price on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Empire currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$43.71.

Empire Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of C$5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The company’s 50 day moving average is C$40.67 and its 200 day moving average is C$36.97.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Empire’s payout ratio is currently 29.20%.

Insider Transactions at Empire

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total transaction of C$199,868.50. Also, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 4,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$39.66, for a total transaction of C$179,461.50. Insiders have sold a total of 13,033 shares of company stock valued at $526,583 in the last ninety days. 2.18% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.