Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$48.68 and traded as high as C$49.78. Empire shares last traded at C$49.32, with a volume of 486,695 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on EMP.A shares. Desjardins lifted their price target on shares of Empire from C$53.00 to C$56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised Empire from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a C$58.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, July 20th. National Bank Financial lifted their target price on Empire from C$54.00 to C$55.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their target price on Empire from C$54.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Friday, June 19th. Finally, TD upped their target price on Empire from C$50.00 to C$53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$55.00.

Empire Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of C$10.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of -0.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of C$49.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$48.71.

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 18th. The company reported C$0.94 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$7.81 billion for the quarter. Empire had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 2.18%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Empire Company Limited will post 2.9581227 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Empire Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.2425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. This is a boost from Empire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Empire’s payout ratio is presently 102.33%.

About Empire

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. The company’s investment and other operations segment include the investment in Crombie REIT, which is an open-ended Canadian real estate investment trust, as well as the Genstar Development Partnership.