Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Stock Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average of $160.53

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$160.53 and traded as high as C$177.37. Loblaw Companies shares last traded at C$177.31, with a volume of 300,925 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on L. CIBC upped their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$171.00 to C$189.00 in a research note on Friday, July 26th. National Bankshares increased their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$159.00 to C$175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$172.00 to C$186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$160.00 to C$180.00 in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Desjardins lifted their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$157.00 to C$172.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Loblaw Companies has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$176.43.

Loblaw Companies Trading Up 1.6 %

The firm has a market cap of C$54.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 163.32, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$171.30 and a 200 day moving average price of C$160.53.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported C$2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$2.14 by C$0.01. The firm had revenue of C$13.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$14.07 billion. Loblaw Companies had a net margin of 3.46% and a return on equity of 19.22%. On average, research analysts expect that Loblaw Companies Limited will post 9.5804503 earnings per share for the current year.

Loblaw Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $0.513 dividend. This represents a $2.05 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Loblaw Companies’s payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Loblaw Companies news, Senior Officer Nicholas Henn sold 164 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$165.15, for a total value of C$27,084.39. In other news, Senior Officer Nicholas Henn sold 164 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$165.15, for a total transaction of C$27,084.39. Also, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$165.15, for a total value of C$48,884.02. 53.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Loblaw Companies

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.