Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Reaches New 52-Week Low at $31.51

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as C$31.51 and last traded at C$31.62, with a volume of 124815 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$31.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on EMP.A. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$35.00 in a report on Friday, March 15th. Desjardins reduced their target price on shares of Empire from C$40.00 to C$39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. CIBC reduced their target price on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$40.00 in a report on Friday, March 1st. National Bankshares decreased their price objective on shares of Empire from C$41.00 to C$40.00 in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$38.86.

Empire Stock Up 0.3 %

The stock has a market cap of C$4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.49, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 133.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is C$33.52 and its 200 day moving average is C$35.61.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.1825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Empire’s payout ratio is 24.17%.

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.