Emera (TSE:EMA) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$69.62 and last traded at C$69.54, with a volume of 1353926 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$68.58.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on EMA. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Emera from C$68.00 to C$72.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Emera from C$70.00 to C$73.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Desjardins increased their price target on shares of Emera from C$64.00 to C$68.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Emera from C$71.00 to C$72.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, National Bankshares upped their target price on shares of Emera from C$63.00 to C$67.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Emera presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$71.00.

Emera Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of C$20.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is C$67.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$66.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 150.23.

Emera (TSE:EMA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The company reported C$0.88 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$2.11 billion for the quarter. Emera had a return on equity of 6.06% and a net margin of 10.51%. Equities research analysts expect that Emera Incorporated will post 3.1991627 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Emera news, Director Scott Carlyle Balfour sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$67.75, for a total value of C$677,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,733 shares in the company, valued at C$523,910.75. This represents a 56.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Daniel Muldoon sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$67.00, for a total transaction of C$536,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$159,326. The trade was a 77.09% decrease in their position. Insiders have sold a total of 38,000 shares of company stock worth $2,578,500 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Emera

Emera is a geographically diverse energy and services company investing in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution as well as gas transmission and utility energy services. Emera has operations throughout North America and the Caribbean countries.