Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$57.10.

A number of analysts have issued reports on EMA shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Emera from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from C$55.00 to C$57.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Emera from C$54.00 to C$58.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Emera from C$51.00 to C$56.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Emera from C$57.00 to C$60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, National Bankshares lifted their target price on Emera from C$54.00 to C$55.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th.

Emera Stock Performance

EMA opened at C$55.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of C$15.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a PEG ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.35. Emera has a one year low of C$44.13 and a one year high of C$56.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 155.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$53.67.

Emera (TSE:EMA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported C$0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.77 by C$0.04. Emera had a net margin of 10.83% and a return on equity of 6.60%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Emera will post 3.1991627 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Emera Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.725 per share. This represents a $2.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Emera’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.84%.

Emera Company Profile

Emera Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity to various customers. The company operates through Florida Electric Utility, Canadian Electric Utilities, Other Electric Utilities, Gas Utilities and Infrastructure, and Other segments.