Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Given New C$36.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its price objective lowered by Scotiabank from C$37.00 to C$36.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Empire from C$49.00 to C$43.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. CIBC lowered their price objective on shares of Empire from C$42.00 to C$40.00 in a research report on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$35.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. National Bankshares lowered their price objective on shares of Empire from C$41.00 to C$40.00 in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of Empire from C$37.00 to C$36.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$38.43.

Empire Stock Performance

Empire stock opened at C$32.38 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$33.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$35.39. Empire has a 1-year low of C$31.45 and a 1-year high of C$40.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 133.75, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of C$4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.47.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.1825 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $0.73 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Empire’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.17%.

Empire Company Profile

Empire Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the food retail and related real estate businesses in Canada. It operates through two segments, Food Retailing, and Investments and Other Operations. The company owns, affiliates, and franchises approximately 1,500 retail stores under various retail banners, including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, and Lawtons Drugs; and approximately 350 retail fuel locations.