National Bankshares Cuts Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Price Target to C$58.00

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its target price trimmed by National Bankshares from C$59.00 to C$58.00 in a report issued on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Separately, Scotiabank reduced their target price on Empire from C$58.00 to C$57.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$56.57.

Empire Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of EMP.A opened at C$51.45 on Thursday. Empire has a fifty-two week low of C$40.33 and a fifty-two week high of C$58.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is C$49.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$52.30. The firm has a market cap of C$11.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 31st. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 15th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.52%.

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.