Emera (TSE:EMA) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from C$76.00 to C$80.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Emera traded as high as C$77.80 and last traded at C$76.38, with a volume of 789544 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$77.18.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Emera from C$74.50 to C$75.25 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Barclays set a C$72.00 target price on Emera and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. National Bank Financial increased their target price on Emera from C$69.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Emera from C$73.00 to C$79.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Emera from C$78.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$75.77.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Richard Janega sold 16,500 shares of Emera stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$74.25, for a total transaction of C$1,225,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 19,642 shares in the company, valued at C$1,458,418.50. The trade was a 45.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Emera Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is C$73.93 and its 200-day moving average is C$71.60. The stock has a market cap of C$23.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 168.83, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.23.

Emera (TSE:EMA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported C$1.37 earnings per share for the quarter. Emera had a return on equity of 7.90% and a net margin of 13.20%.The company had revenue of C$2.81 billion during the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Emera Incorporated will post 3.1991627 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Emera Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.7325 dividend. This represents a $2.93 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Emera’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.14%.

Emera Company Profile

Emera (TSX/NYSE: EMA) is a leading North American provider of energy services headquartered in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with investments in regulated electric and natural gas utilities, and related businesses and assets. The Emera family of companies delivers safe, reliable energy to approximately 2.7 million customers in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Our team of 7,800 employees is committed to our purpose of energizing modern life and delivering a cleaner energy future for all. Emera’s common and preferred shares are listed and trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and its common shares are listed and trade on the New York Stock Exchange.