Etienne Ricard, an analyst from BMO Capital, maintained the Hold rating on Empire Co Cl A NV. The associated price target remains the same with C$51.00.
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Etienne Ricard has given his Hold rating due to a combination of factors tied to Empire’s execution versus its targets. He acknowledges that tighter control of selling, general and administrative costs, along with leadership changes focused on efficiency and “profitable growth,” are positive steps, but he also notes that gross margin gains are becoming harder to sustain after several years of improvement.
Ricard also highlights that while the company’s valuation remains at a discount to peers and the broader index, visibility on achieving its recently outlined 8–11% annual EPS growth objective is still limited. In his view, the next clear upside catalyst would be a pattern of consistently meeting that profit growth range, and until there is stronger evidence Empire can reliably deliver on this framework, the risk‑reward profile supports maintaining a Hold rather than moving to a more aggressive stance.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 50 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is positive on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders buying their shares of EMP.A in relation to earlier this year.