Pierre St-Laurent Sells 5,354 Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 5,354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$44.96, for a total transaction of C$240,715.84.

Empire Stock Performance

TSE EMP.A opened at C$46.43 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is C$43.64 and its 200 day moving average price is C$42.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. Empire Company Limited has a twelve month low of C$31.45 and a twelve month high of C$46.91. The company has a market capitalization of C$6.52 billion, a PE ratio of 16.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on EMP.A. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. CIBC increased their target price on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank raised Empire from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a report on Friday, March 14th. Desjardins increased their price objective on Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research note on Sunday, December 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Empire has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$48.86.

Empire Company Profile

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.