Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Trading Down 8.7% – Here’s What Happened

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A)’s stock price dropped 8.7% on Thursday . The company traded as low as C$46.60 and last traded at C$46.76. Approximately 162,284 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 435,470 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$51.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Empire from C$58.00 to C$57.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 27th. National Bankshares decreased their price objective on shares of Empire from C$59.00 to C$58.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Empire currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$56.57.

Empire Stock Down 9.2%

The company has a market cap of C$10.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average of C$49.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The company reported C$0.69 EPS for the quarter. Empire had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The firm had revenue of C$8 billion for the quarter. On average, research analysts anticipate that Empire Company Limited will post 2.9581227 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Empire’s payout ratio is currently 27.52%.

Empire Company Profile

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.