Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Price Target Increased to C$161.00 by Analysts at Scotiabank

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) had its price objective hoisted by Scotiabank from C$148.27 to C$161.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the stock.

L has been the topic of several other research reports. Desjardins upped their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$148.00 to C$157.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Monday. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$150.00 to C$160.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$170.00 to C$172.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$159.00 to C$171.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$130.00 to C$145.00 in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of C$162.43.

Loblaw Companies Trading Down 0.4 %

Loblaw Companies stock traded down C$0.68 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting C$153.93. 236,889 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 362,227. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 156.41. The stock has a market capitalization of C$47.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is C$149.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$133.72. Loblaw Companies has a fifty-two week low of C$110.52 and a fifty-two week high of C$155.22.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported C$2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$1.92 by C$0.08. The firm had revenue of C$14.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$14.58 billion. Loblaw Companies had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 18.96%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Loblaw Companies will post 8.4881297 EPS for the current year.

Loblaw Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a $0.513 dividend. This is an increase from Loblaw Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.05 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Loblaw Companies’s payout ratio is 27.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Frank Gambioli sold 4,603 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$144.00, for a total transaction of C$662,832.00. In other Loblaw Companies news, Senior Officer Jeffrey Francis Leger sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$147.50, for a total value of C$1,475,000.00. Also, Senior Officer Frank Gambioli sold 4,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$144.00, for a total transaction of C$662,832.00. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 71,495 shares of company stock worth $10,547,163. Corporate insiders own 52.69% of the company’s stock.

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.