Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$102.38.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MRU. National Bank Financial set a C$105.00 price target on shares of Metro and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Metro from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from C$105.00 to C$95.00 in a research report on Monday, July 20th. TD Securities raised shares of Metro to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Desjardins dropped their price objective on shares of Metro from C$99.00 to C$97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their price objective on shares of Metro from C$101.00 to C$97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Metro Price Performance

Shares of MRU opened at C$89.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of C$92.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$93.05. Metro has a 52-week low of C$86.63 and a 52-week high of C$106.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.30, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market capitalization of C$18.94 billion, a PE ratio of 19.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.18.

Metro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were issued a $0.4075 dividend. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. Metro’s payout ratio is 32.36%.

Metro Company Profile

With annual sales of more than $22 billion, METRO Inc is a food and pharmacy leader in Québec and Ontario, providing employment to more than 97,000 people. Its purpose is to Nourish the health and well-being of our communities. As a retailer, franchisor, distributor, manufacturer, and provider of eCommerce services, the company operates or services a network of some 1,000 food stores under several banners including Metro, Metro Plus, Super C, Food Basics, Adonis and Première Moisson, and some 640 pharmacies primarily under the Jean Coutu, Brunet, Metro Pharmacy and Food Basics Pharmacy banners.