Scotia Lowers Empire (TSE:EMP.A) Price Target to C$48.00

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) had its target price cut by equities researchers at Scotia from C$50.00 to C$48.00 in a report issued on Friday, BayStreet reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Scotia’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 5.29% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. TD lifted their target price on Empire from C$50.00 to C$53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Empire from C$55.00 to C$58.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 19th. Desjardins raised their price objective on Empire from C$53.00 to C$56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, June 21st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price objective on Empire from C$54.00 to C$58.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Friday, June 19th. Finally, National Bank Financial upped their target price on Empire from C$55.00 to C$56.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Empire currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$53.67.

Empire Trading Down 1.7%

TSE:EMP.A traded down C$0.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting C$45.59. 284,866 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 485,066. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$49.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$48.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 135.51. Empire has a fifty-two week low of C$43.81 and a fifty-two week high of C$52.64. The firm has a market capitalization of C$10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.01, a PEG ratio of 16.20 and a beta of -0.29.

Empire (TSE:EMP.A) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 10th. The company reported C$1.04 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$8.47 billion for the quarter. Empire had a net margin of 2.18% and a return on equity of 12.94%. As a group, research analysts expect that Empire will post 2.9581227 earnings per share for the current year.

Empire Company Profile

Empire Company Limited (TSX: EMP.A) is a Canadian company headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Empire’s key businesses are food retailing, through wholly-owned subsidiary Sobeys Inc, and related real estate. With approximately $32 billion in annual sales and $17 billion in assets, Empire and its subsidiaries, franchisees and affiliates employ approximately 130,000 people. Additional financial information relating to Empire, including the Company’s Annual Information Form, can be found on the Company’s website at www.empireco.ca or on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.