Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$38.43.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EMP.A shares. Scotiabank cut their price target on Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. National Bankshares lowered their price target on shares of Empire from C$41.00 to C$40.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. CIBC dropped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$40.00 in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Desjardins reduced their price objective on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th.

Empire Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of TSE EMP.A opened at C$32.10 on Thursday. Empire has a 52-week low of C$31.45 and a 52-week high of C$40.69. The firm has a market capitalization of C$4.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.63, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of C$33.29 and a 200 day moving average price of C$35.42. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.1825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.17%.

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.