Emera (TSE:EMA) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$74.82 and last traded at C$74.77, with a volume of 209976 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$73.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EMA. Barclays set a C$72.00 target price on Emera and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Emera from C$72.00 to C$74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Emera from C$74.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Desjardins raised their price objective on shares of Emera from C$69.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, National Bank Financial lifted their target price on shares of Emera from C$69.00 to C$75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$74.39.

Emera Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$72.20 and a 200 day moving average of C$70.17. The company has a market capitalization of C$22.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 168.83.

Emera (TSE:EMA) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$2.81 billion during the quarter. Emera had a net margin of 13.20% and a return on equity of 7.90%. As a group, analysts predict that Emera Incorporated will post 3.1991627 EPS for the current year.

Emera Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.7325 per share. This represents a $2.93 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. Emera’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.14%.

Insider Transactions at Emera

In related news, insider Richard Janega sold 16,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$74.25, for a total value of C$1,225,125.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 19,642 shares in the company, valued at C$1,458,418.50. The trade was a 45.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Emera

Emera (TSX/NYSE: EMA) is a leading North American provider of energy services headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with investments in regulated electric and natural gas utilities, and related businesses and assets. The Emera family of companies delivers safe, reliable energy to approximately 2.7 million customers in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Our team of 7,800 employees is committed to our purpose of energizing modern life and delivering a cleaner energy future for all. Emera’s common and preferred shares are listed and trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and its common shares are listed and trade on the New York Stock Exchange.