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

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$162.43.

A number of brokerages have commented on L. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$148.27 to C$161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. National Bankshares upped their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$156.00 to C$159.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Desjardins upped their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$148.00 to C$157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$168.00 to C$172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$159.00 to C$171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd.

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Kieran Barry Columb sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$162.00, for a total transaction of C$891,000.00. In other news, Senior Officer Kieran Barry Columb sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$162.00, for a total transaction of C$891,000.00. Also, Senior Officer Frank Gambioli sold 14,840 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$157.00, for a total transaction of C$2,329,880.00. Insiders sold 83,929 shares of company stock valued at $13,160,644 in the last three months. Company insiders own 53.29% of the company’s stock.

Loblaw Companies Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of TSE:L opened at C$153.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 156.41, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.25. Loblaw Companies has a 52-week low of C$110.52 and a 52-week high of C$164.94. The company has a market capitalization of C$47.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$155.03 and a 200-day moving average of C$143.27.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported C$1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.70 by C$0.02. Loblaw Companies had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The company had revenue of C$13.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$13.29 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Loblaw Companies will post 8.3923706 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Loblaw Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be paid a $0.513 dividend. This is a positive change from Loblaw Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.05 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.01%.

Loblaw Companies Company Profile

Loblaw Companies Limited, a food and pharmacy company, provides grocery, pharmacy and healthcare services, health and beauty products, apparels, general merchandise, financial services, and wireless mobile products and services 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.