Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Price Down 8.7% – Here’s What Happened

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) fell 8.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as C$46.60 and last traded at C$46.76. 162,284 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 435,470 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$51.23.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EMP.A has been the subject of a number of research reports. Desjardins reduced their target price on shares of Empire from C$60.00 to C$53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. National Bankshares cut their price objective on Empire from C$58.00 to C$54.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Empire from C$57.00 to C$52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. CIBC cut their target price on Empire from C$59.00 to C$53.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, TD Securities dropped their price target on Empire from C$58.00 to C$50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$53.83.

Empire Stock Down 1.0%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$49.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$52.26. The stock has a market capitalization of C$10.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51.

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The company reported C$0.69 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$8 billion for the quarter. Empire had a return on equity of 12.94% and a net margin of 2.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Empire Company Limited will post 2.9581227 earnings per share for the current year.

Empire Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 15th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.52%.

Empire Company Profile

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.