Empire Company (TSX:EMP.A) is a food retailer that operates chains like Sobey’s, FreshCo, Farm Boy, IGA, numerous retail fuel locations, and many other grocers. The stock has climbed 3.1% in 2019 as of close on April 18. Shares are up 24% from the prior year.
Empire released its fiscal 2019 third-quarter results on March 13. Same-store sales excluding fuel climbed 3.3% from the prior year and posted 3.9% growth including pharmacy sales. Earnings per share rose to $0.24 over $0.21 in Q3 fiscal 2018, but adjusted earnings per share fell to $0.27 over $0.33 in the previous year.
For the first three quarters of fiscal 2019 Empire has reported adjusted net earnings of $283.5 million or $1.04 per share compared to $251.3 million or $0.92 per share in the first three quarters of fiscal 2018.
Same-store sales have posted 2.6% growth compared to 0.9% growth in what was a more difficult fiscal 2018.
Empire’s board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share in the quarterly report. This represents a modest 1.4% yield.
Empire has been more attractive as a growth stock over the past three years, climbing 42% in this time span. Its yield cannot contend with many of the better options on the TSX, but the company has achieved 24 consecutive years of dividend growth.
This puts it in elite company on the index.
