Topic: How To Invest

Hi Pat: I know Empire Company isn’t one you guys follow really closely, but what do you think of the stock?

Article Excerpt

Empire Company Ltd., $66.83, symbol EMP.A on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 92.3 million; Market cap: $6.1 billion; www.empireco.ca), is a diversified Canadian firm based in Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Empire sells and distributes food through national grocery retailer Sobeys. It also invests in real estate and various publicly traded companies. In June 2007, Empire paid $58 per share (a total of $1.06 billion) for the 29.9% of Sobeys that it didn’t already own. (Sobeys was a recommendation of our Successful Investor newsletter. We first recommended the stock in April 2003 at $36, so the buyout left our subscribers with a 61% gain.) Sobeys owns or franchises more than 1,500 stores across Canada. In addition to Sobeys, its banners include IGA, IGA Extra, Price Chopper, FreshCo and Safeway (see below). The company’s real estate division includes commercial and residential property operations. It owns 41.6% of Crombie REIT (symbol CRR.UN on Toronto), which invests in retail, office and mixed-use properties. Empire handles its residential investments through a 40.7%…