Emera (TSE:EMA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as C$59.96 and last traded at C$59.92, with a volume of 394577 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$59.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EMA shares. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Emera from C$60.00 to C$62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on Emera from C$54.00 to C$59.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Emera from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from C$51.00 to C$56.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. CIBC raised their target price on Emera from C$58.00 to C$59.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Emera from C$60.00 to C$63.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$58.18.

Emera Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of C$17.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a PEG ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 150.23, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of C$56.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$54.19.

Emera Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.725 per share. This represents a $2.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Emera’s payout ratio is 112.40%.

About Emera

Emera Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity to various customers. The company operates through Florida Electric Utility, Canadian Electric Utilities, Other Electric Utilities, Gas Utilities and Infrastructure, and Other segments.