Emera (TSE:EMA) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as C$69.13 and last traded at C$69.13, with a volume of 164452 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$68.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Emera from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Emera from C$70.00 to C$72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. National Bankshares raised their target price on shares of Emera from C$60.00 to C$62.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Emera from C$66.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, CIBC lowered shares of Emera from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from C$65.00 to C$68.00 in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Emera has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$64.50.

Emera Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is C$65.83 and its 200 day moving average price is C$63.12. The firm has a market cap of C$20.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 150.23.

Emera Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.725 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $2.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Emera’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.05%.

Insider Transactions at Emera

In other news, Director Archibald Collins sold 30,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$64.95, for a total transaction of C$1,987,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$847,272.75. This represents a 70.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Judy Ann Steele sold 18,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$64.90, for a total transaction of C$1,174,690.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$22,844.80. This represents a 98.09% decrease in their position. Insiders have sold 49,494 shares of company stock valued at $3,213,691 in the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Emera Company Profile

Emera is a geographically diverse energy and services company investing in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution as well as gas transmission and utility energy services. Emera has operations throughout North America and the Caribbean countries.