Emera (TSE:EMA) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$76.62 and last traded at C$76.58, with a volume of 139365 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$76.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Emera from C$73.00 to C$74.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Emera from C$74.50 to C$75.25 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. TD increased their target price on Emera from C$75.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays set a C$72.00 target price on Emera and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Desjardins upped their price target on shares of Emera from C$69.00 to C$70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$74.39.

Emera Stock Down 0.2%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$73.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$71.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 168.83, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of C$23.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.25, a P/E/G ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.57.

Emera (TSE:EMA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$2.81 billion during the quarter. Emera had a return on equity of 7.90% and a net margin of 13.20%. Equities research analysts predict that Emera Incorporated will post 3.1991627 earnings per share for the current year.

Emera Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $0.7325 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This represents a $2.93 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Emera’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.14%.

Insider Transactions at Emera

In other Emera news, insider Richard Janega sold 16,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$74.25, for a total transaction of C$1,225,125.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 19,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,458,418.50. This trade represents a 45.65% decrease in their position. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Emera

Emera (TSX/NYSE: EMA) is a leading North American provider of energy services headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with investments in regulated electric and natural gas utilities, and related businesses and assets. The Emera family of companies delivers safe, reliable energy to approximately 2.7 million customers in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Our team of 7,800 employees is committed to our purpose of energizing modern life and delivering a cleaner energy future for all. Emera’s common and preferred shares are listed and trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and its common shares are listed and trade on the New York Stock Exchange.