Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Stock Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Empire Company Limited (TSE:EMP.A)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$44.50 and traded as high as C$50.73. Empire shares last traded at C$49.14, with a volume of 305,539 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Empire from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from C$47.00 to C$49.00 in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Empire presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$48.86.

Empire Stock Performance

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 company’s 50-day moving average is C$47.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$44.50. The company has a market capitalization of C$6.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.48.

Empire Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. Empire’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Empire news, Senior Officer Matthew Reindel sold 767 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.11, for a total transaction of C$33,832.37. Also, Senior Officer Pierre St-Laurent sold 5,354 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$44.96, for a total transaction of C$240,715.84. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 20,459 shares of company stock worth $961,651. Insiders own 2.18% of the company’s stock.

Empire Company Profile

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.