Matthew Reindel Sells 1,852 Shares of Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Stock

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A) Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 1,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$46.16, for a total value of C$85,488.32.

Matthew Reindel also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, March 21st, Matthew Reindel sold 217 shares of Empire stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$46.10, for a total transaction of C$10,003.70.
• On Monday, March 17th, Matthew Reindel sold 767 shares of Empire stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.11, for a total transaction of C$33,832.37.

Empire Price Performance

Shares of EMP.A stock traded down C$0.54 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting C$45.89. The company had a trading volume of 721,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 558,077. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average is C$43.64 and its 200 day moving average is C$42.20. Empire Company Limited has a 12 month low of C$31.45 and a 12 month high of C$46.91. The firm has a market capitalization of C$6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.75, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. CIBC upped their target price on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. TD Securities increased their target price on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Desjardins boosted their price objective on Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a research report on Sunday, December 15th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Empire from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$48.86.

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.