Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$48.51 and traded as high as C$51.98. Empire shares last traded at C$51.28, with a volume of 518,028 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EMP.A has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Empire from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a C$58.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price objective on Empire from C$54.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, June 19th. National Bank Financial increased their price objective on Empire from C$54.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Desjardins raised their target price on shares of Empire from C$53.00 to C$56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 21st. Finally, TD boosted their target price on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$55.00.

Empire Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of C$11.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.60, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of -0.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is C$49.73 and its 200-day moving average price is C$48.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The company reported C$0.94 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$7.81 billion during the quarter. Empire had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 2.18%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Empire Company Limited will post 2.9581227 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Empire Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.2425 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from Empire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is presently 102.33%.

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. The company’s investment and other operations segment include the investment in Crombie REIT, which is an open-ended Canadian real estate investment trust, as well as the Genstar Development Partnership.