Analysts Set Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) Target Price at C$162.43

Shares of Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$162.43.

Several brokerages have commented on L. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$148.27 to C$161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$159.00 to C$171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Desjardins lifted their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$148.00 to C$157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$168.00 to C$172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, National Bankshares lifted their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$156.00 to C$159.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Senior Officer Frank Gambioli sold 14,840 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$157.00, for a total value of C$2,329,880.00. In other news, Senior Officer Melanie Singh sold 1,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$155.09, for a total transaction of C$227,046.05. Also, Senior Officer Frank Gambioli sold 14,840 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$157.00, for a total transaction of C$2,329,880.00. In the last quarter, insiders sold 83,929 shares of company stock valued at $13,160,644. 53.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Loblaw Companies Stock Up 0.7 %

TSE:L opened at C$159.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of C$48.91 billion, a PE ratio of 24.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.12. Loblaw Companies has a twelve month low of C$110.52 and a twelve month high of C$164.94. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is C$155.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$144.38.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported C$1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.70 by C$0.02. The company had revenue of C$13.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$13.29 billion. Loblaw Companies had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 18.96%. Analysts anticipate that Loblaw Companies will post 8.3923706 EPS for the current year.

Loblaw Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be issued a $0.513 dividend. This represents a $2.05 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This is a positive change from Loblaw Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Loblaw Companies’s payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

Loblaw Companies Company Profile

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.