Emera (TSE:EMA) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EMA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays set a C$72.00 price objective on shares of Emera and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. TD increased their price target on shares of Emera from C$75.00 to C$77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. National Bank Financial increased their price target on shares of Emera from C$69.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Desjardins raised their price target on shares of Emera from C$69.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Emera from C$74.50 to C$75.25 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Emera currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$74.39.

Emera Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of C$23.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.03, a PEG 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is C$72.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$70.29.

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

Emera Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Emera

In related news, insider Richard Janega sold 16,500 shares of Emera stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$74.25, for a total transaction of C$1,225,125.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 19,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,458,418.50. This trade represents a 45.65% decrease in their position. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.