Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Share Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) shares crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$36.65 and traded as high as C$40.90. Empire shares last traded at C$40.56, with a volume of 290,656 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on EMP.A. TD Securities lifted their target price on Empire from C$38.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$43.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. National Bankshares upped their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Desjardins upped their price target on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$43.71.

Empire Trading Down 0.5 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$40.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$36.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of C$5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is 29.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Senior Officer Douglas Bigler Nathanson sold 4,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$39.66, for a total transaction of C$179,461.50. Also, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.21, for a total transaction of C$199,868.50. Insiders have sold a total of 13,033 shares of company stock valued at $526,583 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

Empire Company Profile

Empire Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the food retail and related real estate businesses in Canada. It operates through two segments, Food Retailing, and Investments and Other Operations. The company owns, affiliates, and franchises approximately 1,500 retail stores under various retail banners, including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, and Lawtons Drugs; and approximately 350 retail fuel locations.