Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Price Target Cut to C$41.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its target price cut by Royal Bank of Canada from C$42.00 to C$41.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on EMP.A. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$35.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. Desjardins cut their price target on Empire from C$40.00 to C$39.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. TD Securities decreased their price objective on Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. CIBC cut their target price on Empire from C$42.00 to C$40.00 in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of C$38.71.

Empire Price Performance

EMP.A opened at C$34.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 133.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is C$32.72 and its 200 day moving average price is C$33.75. Empire has a fifty-two week low of C$31.45 and a fifty-two week high of C$40.69. The firm has a market cap of C$5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.46.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.1825 per share. This represents a $0.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William Linton sold 7,058 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$34.39, for a total value of C$242,690.74. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 875 shares in the company, valued at C$30,087.05. 1.99% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Empire

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.