Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

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

Several brokerages recently issued reports on L. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Loblaw Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$70.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Scotia lowered their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$70.00 to C$64.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$65.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. National Bank Financial raised their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$62.00 to C$66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$75.00 to C$69.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th.

Loblaw Companies Price Performance

Shares of Loblaw Companies stock opened at C$60.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 153.41, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Loblaw Companies has a fifty-two week low of C$52.92 and a fifty-two week high of C$69.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$62.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$62.54. The company has a market cap of C$70.42 billion, a PE ratio of 26.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.31.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 4.29% and a return on equity of 24.88%. Analysts expect that Loblaw Companies will post 9.1225541 EPS for the current year.

Loblaw Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were given a $0.1411 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.