Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported C$1.04 EPS for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of C$8.47 billion for the quarter. Empire had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 2.18%.

Empire Price Performance

Shares of Empire stock opened at C$47.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.29. Empire has a one year low of C$43.81 and a one year high of C$52.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is C$49.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$48.81. The stock has a market capitalization of C$10.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of -0.29.

Empire Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a $0.2425 dividend. This is an increase from Empire’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Empire’s payout ratio is presently 102.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on EMP.A. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their target price on Empire from C$54.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, June 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Empire from C$55.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 19th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded 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. TD upped their price objective on shares of Empire from C$50.00 to C$53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 19th. Finally, Scotia cut their price objective on shares of Empire from C$52.00 to C$50.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$54.56.

About Empire

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.