Royal Bank Of Canada Boosts Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Price Target to C$61.00

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its price target upped by Royal Bank Of Canada from C$56.00 to C$61.00 in a research report report published on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Empire from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a report on Friday, March 14th. Desjardins lifted their price target on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Empire presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$57.43.

Empire Stock Up 1.6%

EMP.A opened at C$55.51 on Friday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of C$33.77 and a fifty-two week high of C$56.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is C$51.08 and its 200 day moving average is C$46.64. The stock has a market cap of C$7.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Empire

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 12,269 shares of Empire stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$48.22, for a total value of C$591,611.18. 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.