Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L – Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from C$170.00 to C$172.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Loblaw Companies traded as high as C$136.55 and last traded at C$135.96, with a volume of 186471 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$134.62.
A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$140.00 to C$150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. CIBC dropped their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$152.00 to C$150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 16th. National Bankshares lifted their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$142.00 to C$149.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$127.00 to C$137.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$145.86.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, Director William Downe acquired 4,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$122.72 per share, with a total value of C$550,405.93. In other news, Director William Downe purchased 4,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$122.72 per share, with a total value of C$550,405.93. Also, Senior Officer Jeffrey Francis Leger sold 8,140 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$123.50, for a total transaction of C$1,005,290.00. 54.69% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Loblaw Companies Price Performance
The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 154.39. The company has a market cap of C$42.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$125.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$119.61.
Loblaw Companies (TSE:L – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 15th. The company reported C$2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$2.23 by C$0.03. Loblaw Companies had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 18.60%. The company had revenue of C$18.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$18.23 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Loblaw Companies Limited will post 8.289604 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Loblaw Companies Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, December 30th were issued a $0.446 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 14th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.86%.
About Loblaw Companies
Loblaw Companies Limited, a food and pharmacy company, engages in the grocery, pharmacy, health and beauty, apparel, general merchandise, financial services, and wireless mobile products and services businesses in Canada. It operates in two segments, Retail and Financial Services. The Retail segment operates corporate and franchise-owned retail food, and associate-owned drug stores.