Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$53.67.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on EMP.A shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Empire from C$55.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, June 19th. TD decreased their target price on Empire from C$53.00 to C$52.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price target on Empire from C$54.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, June 19th. National Bank Financial cut their price target on shares of Empire from C$56.00 to C$54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Desjardins reduced their price objective on shares of Empire from C$57.00 to C$53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 11th.

Empire Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of TSE:EMP.A opened at C$45.83 on Friday. Empire has a one year low of C$43.81 and a one year high of C$52.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of C$48.84 and a 200-day moving average of C$48.70. 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 stock has a market cap of C$10.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.29, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of -0.29.

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. Empire had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The business had revenue of C$8.47 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Empire will post 2.9581227 earnings per share for the current year.

Empire Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a $0.2425 dividend. This represents a $0.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from Empire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 15th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 91.16%.

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.