Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Shares Down 8.6% – Here’s Why

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) shares traded down 8.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as C$46.60 and last traded at C$46.80. 244,969 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 435,726 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$51.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Desjardins reduced their target price on shares of Empire from C$60.00 to C$53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. National Bankshares decreased their price target on shares of Empire from C$58.00 to C$54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. CIBC reduced their price target on shares of Empire from C$59.00 to C$53.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. TD Securities dropped their price objective on Empire from C$58.00 to C$50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Empire from C$57.00 to C$52.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$53.83.

Empire Trading Down 1.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of C$10.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$49.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$52.26.

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The company reported C$0.69 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$8 billion for the quarter. Empire had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 2.18%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Empire Company Limited will post 2.9581227 earnings per share for the current year.

Empire Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.52%.

About Empire

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.