Emera (TSE:EMA) Reaches New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Emera Incorporated (TSE:EMA) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday after TD lowered their price target on the stock from C$79.00 to C$75.00. TD currently has a buy rating on the stock. Emera traded as low as C$64.66 and last traded at C$64.93, with a volume of 520471 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$65.36.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on EMA. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Emera from C$78.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Emera from C$75.25 to C$77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays lowered their target price on Emera from C$74.00 to C$71.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Desjardins boosted their price target on Emera from C$70.00 to C$74.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Emera from C$73.00 to C$79.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$76.33.

Emera Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 153.87. The business has a 50 day moving average price of C$69.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$72.04. The stock has a market cap of C$19.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 0.42.

Emera (TSE:EMA) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported C$0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Emera had a return on equity of 7.51% and a net margin of 12.85%.The company had revenue of C$2.01 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Emera Incorporated will post 3.1991627 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Emera Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were given a dividend of $0.7325 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $2.93 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. Emera’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.78%.

About Emera

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.