Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Upgraded to Outperform at Scotiabank

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) was upgraded by stock analysts at Scotiabank from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has a C$49.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of C$47.00. Scotiabank’s target price points to a potential upside of 12.64% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on EMP.A. Desjardins lifted their target price on Empire from C$47.00 to C$50.00 in a report on Sunday, December 15th. TD Securities lifted their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Empire from C$44.00 to C$48.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, CIBC lifted their price target on Empire from C$47.00 to C$55.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$48.86.

Empire Price Performance

TSE:EMP.A traded up C$1.07 on Friday, reaching C$43.50. 367,071 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 515,506. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of C$43.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$41.72. The firm has a market cap of C$6.11 billion, a PE ratio of 15.88, a P/E/G ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48. Empire has a 12 month low of C$31.45 and a 12 month high of C$46.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Simon Gagne sold 8,458 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.48, for a total transaction of C$376,211.84. Also, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 4,587 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$43.81, for a total transaction of C$200,956.47. 2.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.