Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Sells C$153,228.83 in Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Vivek Sood sold 4,236 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$36.17, for a total value of C$153,228.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$13,781.91.

Empire Stock Performance

Shares of EMP.A stock opened at C$36.74 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of C$5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 133.75, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.80. Empire Company Limited has a one year low of C$31.45 and a one year high of C$40.69. The company’s 50-day moving average is C$34.04 and its 200 day moving average is C$33.77.

Empire Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is an increase from Empire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on EMP.A shares. Desjardins lifted their price target on shares of Empire from C$38.00 to C$40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Empire from C$36.00 to C$38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. National Bankshares raised their price objective on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$41.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Empire from C$42.00 to C$41.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$38.71.

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.