Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$69.25.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotia cut their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$70.00 to C$64.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$75.00 to C$69.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Loblaw Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$70.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Loblaw Companies

In other news, Director Nicholas Henn sold 10,000 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$67.00, for a total transaction of C$670,000.00. Also, insider Melanie Singh sold 4,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$66.72, for a total transaction of C$321,590.40. Insiders own 53.77% of the company’s stock.

Loblaw Companies Stock Up 1.2%

L stock traded up C$0.79 on Friday, hitting C$64.18. 944,891 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,382,580. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of C$62.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$63.23. Loblaw Companies has a 12-month low of C$52.92 and a 12-month high of C$69.59. The stock has a market cap of C$74.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 153.41, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$0.52 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$14.48 billion during the quarter. Loblaw Companies had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 4.29%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Loblaw Companies will post 9.1225541 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Loblaw Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were issued a $0.1552 dividend. This is an increase from Loblaw Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 24.53%.

About Loblaw Companies

Loblaw is one of Canada’s largest grocery, pharmacy, and general merchandise retailers, operating the most expansive store footprint in Ontario and maintaining sizable presences in provinces like Quebec and British Columbia. Key grocery banners include Loblaw, No Frills, and Maxi, while its pharmaceutical operations are the product of its 2014 acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart. The firm carries a robust private-label assortment, with top sellers like President’s Choice and No Name. In addition to its retail operations, Loblaw oversees a financial-services business, which provides credit card services and guaranteed investment certificates, and also operates its PC Optimum loyalty program.