Metro (TSE:MRU) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from C$84.00 to C$90.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a buy rating on the stock. Metro traded as high as C$87.24 and last traded at C$87.01, with a volume of 74164 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$86.16.

MRU has been the subject of several other research reports. National Bankshares increased their price objective on shares of Metro from C$85.00 to C$88.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Cfra boosted their price objective on Metro from C$76.00 to C$85.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. CIBC increased their target price on Metro from C$77.00 to C$86.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Metro from C$82.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Desjardins lifted their price objective on Metro from C$75.00 to C$80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$85.00.

Metro Trading Up 1.8 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is C$84.41 and its 200 day moving average price is C$79.92. The company has a market capitalization of C$19.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 64.18.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported C$1.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.35. The company had revenue of C$6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$6.58 billion. Metro had a return on equity of 13.74% and a net margin of 4.36%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Metro Inc. will post 4.8188614 earnings per share for the current year.

Metro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 24th. Metro’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.76%.

Metro Company Profile

Metro Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer, franchisor, distributor, and manufacturer in the food and pharmaceutical sectors in Canada. The company operates supermarkets, discount, neighborhood, and specialty stores that provide fresh and grocery products, baked goods, prepared food products, meats, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, frozen food products, bakery products, delicatessen items, and pastries.