Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$39.20 and traded as high as C$44.67. Empire shares last traded at C$44.10, with a volume of 362,301 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on EMP.A. TD Securities boosted their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. National Bankshares boosted their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Empire from C$44.00 to C$47.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Empire has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$48.57.

Empire Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is C$42.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$39.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The stock has a market capitalization of C$6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.09, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.20%.

Insider Transactions at Empire

In other news, Director Michael Bennett Medline sold 75,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$44.83, for a total transaction of C$3,400,086.52. Also, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 4,587 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$43.81, for a total value of C$200,956.47. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 96,154 shares of company stock valued at $4,305,270. 2.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.