Insider Selling: Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Director Sells C$2,456,396.52 in Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Director Michael Bennett Medline sold 44,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$55.19, for a total transaction of C$2,456,396.52.

Michael Bennett Medline also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, June 24th, Michael Bennett Medline sold 45,474 shares of Empire stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$55.89, for a total transaction of C$2,541,541.86.

Empire Stock Performance

Shares of EMP.A opened at C$56.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of C$7.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The business’s 50 day moving average is C$51.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$47.02. Empire Company Limited has a 52-week low of C$34.43 and a 52-week high of C$56.80.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on EMP.A. CIBC raised their price objective on Empire from C$55.00 to C$59.00 in a research report on Friday, June 20th. TD Securities boosted their price target on Empire from C$48.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. National Bankshares upped their price target on Empire from C$53.00 to C$59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Desjardins lifted their price objective on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Empire from C$56.00 to C$61.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$57.43.

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.