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

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$71.00.

Several research analysts recently commented on L shares. TD Securities upgraded shares of Loblaw Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$70.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. National Bank Financial increased their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$67.00 to C$70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Desjardins raised their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$70.00 to C$72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Scotia lifted their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$64.00 to C$67.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st.

Insider Activity

In other Loblaw Companies news, insider Melanie Singh sold 4,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$66.72, for a total transaction of C$321,590.40. Also, Director Nicholas Henn sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$67.00, for a total value of C$670,000.00. Company insiders own 53.77% of the company’s stock.

Loblaw Companies Stock Performance

Shares of TSE:L opened at C$63.31 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of C$63.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$63.28. The firm has a market capitalization of C$73.16 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 151.15, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Loblaw Companies has a 12 month low of C$52.92 and a 12 month high of C$69.59.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported C$0.66 earnings per share for the quarter. Loblaw Companies had a return on equity of 25.25% and a net margin of 4.32%.The business had revenue of C$15.05 billion for the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that Loblaw Companies will post 9.1225541 earnings per share for the current year.

Loblaw Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a $0.1552 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.51%.

Loblaw Companies Company Profile

Loblaw is Canada’s food and pharmacy leader, and the nation’s largest retailer. Loblaw provides Canadians with grocery, pharmacy, health and beauty, apparel, general merchandise, financial services and wireless mobile products and services. With more than 2,800 corporate franchised and Associate-owned locations, Loblaw, its franchisees and Associate-owners employ more than 220,000 full- and part-time employees, making it one of Canada’s largest private sector employers. Loblaw’s purpose – Live Life Well® – puts first the needs and well-being of Canadians who make one billion transactions annually in the company’s stores.