Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Given New C$54.00 Price Target at National Bank Financial

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at National Bank Financial from C$56.00 to C$54.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, BayStreet reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. National Bank Financial’s target price suggests a potential upside of 18.45% from the stock’s previous close.

EMP.A has been the topic of several other research reports. TD raised their price target on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 19th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price objective on Empire from C$54.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Friday, June 19th. Desjardins raised their target price on Empire from C$53.00 to C$56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised Empire from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a C$58.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Empire from C$55.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$53.67.

Empire Stock Performance

TSE:EMP.A traded down C$0.78 during trading hours on Friday, reaching C$45.59. 284,866 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 485,066. The stock has a market capitalization of C$10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.01, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of -0.29. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$49.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$48.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. Empire has a 52 week low of C$43.81 and a 52 week high of C$52.64.

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 10th. The company reported C$1.04 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$8.47 billion during the quarter. Empire had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 12.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Empire will post 2.9581227 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Empire Company Profile

Empire Company Limited (TSX: EMP.A) is a Canadian company headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Empire’s key businesses are food retailing, through wholly-owned subsidiary Sobeys Inc, and related real estate. With approximately $32 billion in annual sales and $17 billion in assets, Empire and its subsidiaries, franchisees and affiliates employ approximately 130,000 people. Additional financial information relating to Empire, including the Company’s Annual Information Form, can be found on the Company’s website at www.empireco.ca or on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.