Emera (TSE:EMA) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$77.92 and last traded at C$77.91, with a volume of 64888 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$76.75.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EMA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Emera from C$73.00 to C$79.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Emera from C$76.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Emera from C$73.00 to C$74.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Emera from C$78.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, National Bank Financial increased their price objective on Emera from C$69.00 to C$75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$75.77.

Emera Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 168.83, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of C$23.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a PEG ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$74.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$71.92.

Emera (TSE:EMA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported C$1.37 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$2.81 billion during the quarter. Emera had a return on equity of 7.90% and a net margin of 13.20%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Emera Incorporated will post 3.1991627 EPS for the current year.

Emera Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.7325 per share. This represents a $2.93 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Emera’s payout ratio is currently 89.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Emera

In related news, insider Richard Janega sold 16,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was 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 approximately C$1,458,418.50. This trade represents a 45.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.