Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Given New C$55.00 Price Target at Royal Bank Of Canada

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its target price decreased by research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from C$61.00 to C$55.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 20.64% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Desjardins reduced their price target on shares of Empire from C$60.00 to C$53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. CIBC lowered their target price on Empire from C$59.00 to C$53.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Empire from C$57.00 to C$52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 12th. TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Empire from C$58.00 to C$50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, National Bankshares decreased their price objective on Empire from C$58.00 to C$54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$52.83.

Empire Stock Performance

TSE:EMP.A traded up C$0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting C$45.59. 111,019 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 506,714. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$48.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$50.92. The firm has a market capitalization of C$10.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. Empire has a 12 month low of C$40.33 and a 12 month high of C$58.32.

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 return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 2.18%.The firm had revenue of C$8 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that Empire will post 2.9581227 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Empire

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. The company’s investment and other operations segment include the investment in Crombie REIT, which is an open-ended Canadian real estate investment trust, as well as the Genstar Development Partnership.