Desjardins Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Price

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its target price reduced by Desjardins from C$57.00 to C$53.00 in a research note issued on Friday, BayStreet reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Desjardins’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 16.25% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. TD increased their price target on Empire from C$50.00 to C$53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 19th. National Bank Financial cut their target price on shares of Empire from C$56.00 to C$54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price target on shares of Empire from C$54.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Friday, June 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Empire from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a C$58.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Scotia reduced their price objective on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$53.67.

Empire Stock Performance

EMP.A traded down C$0.78 during midday trading on Friday, reaching C$45.59. The company had a trading volume of 284,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 485,066. Empire has a 12-month low of C$43.81 and a 12-month high of C$52.64. The business has a 50-day moving average price of C$49.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$48.79. The stock has a market cap of C$10.20 billion, a PE ratio of 53.01, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of -0.29. 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, September 10th. The company reported C$1.04 EPS for the quarter. Empire had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 12.94%. The company had revenue of C$8.47 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Empire will post 2.9581227 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Empire Company Profile

Empire Company Limited (TSX: EMP.A) is a Canadian company headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Empire’s key businesses are food retailing, through wholly-owned subsidiary Sobeys Inc, and related real estate. With approximately $32 billion in annual sales and $17 billion in assets, Empire and its subsidiaries, franchisees and affiliates employ approximately 130,000 people. Additional financial information relating to Empire, including the Company’s Annual Information Form, can be found on the Company’s website at www.empireco.ca or on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.