Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent Sells 4,850 Shares

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) 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 value of C$199,868.50.

Pierre St-Laurent also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, July 23rd, Pierre St-Laurent sold 3,000 shares of Empire stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$36.32, for a total value of C$108,960.00.

Empire Stock Down 0.7 %

EMP.A traded down C$0.28 on Monday, hitting C$40.45. The company had a trading volume of 102,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 412,539. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29. Empire Company Limited has a 52-week low of C$31.45 and a 52-week high of C$41.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$38.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$35.01. The firm has a market capitalization of C$5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.86, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMP.A has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities increased their price objective on Empire from C$38.00 to C$44.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Empire from C$40.00 to C$43.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Desjardins raised their price objective on Empire from C$42.00 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. CIBC raised their price objective on Empire from C$40.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, National Bankshares raised their target price on Empire from C$42.00 to C$46.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four equities research 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$43.14.

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.