Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Price Target Increased to C$157.00 by Analysts at Desjardins

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) had its price objective raised by Desjardins from C$148.00 to C$157.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on L. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$130.00 to C$145.00 in a report on Friday, February 23rd. TD Securities upped their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$150.00 to C$160.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. CIBC cut their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$150.00 to C$149.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. National Bankshares lifted their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$153.00 to C$156.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$146.00 to C$148.27 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of C$155.32.

Loblaw Companies Stock Up 0.2 %

TSE L opened at C$152.64 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of C$148.52 and a 200 day moving average price of C$133.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 156.41, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of C$47.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.12. Loblaw Companies has a one year low of C$110.52 and a one year high of C$154.70.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported C$2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$1.92 by C$0.08. Loblaw Companies had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The company had revenue of C$14.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$14.58 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Loblaw Companies will post 8.4881297 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Loblaw Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.446 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.30%.

Insider Activity

In other Loblaw Companies news, Senior Officer Frank Gambioli sold 4,603 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction dated 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 Frank Gambioli sold 4,603 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$144.00, for a total value of C$662,832.00. Also, Senior Officer Robert Wayne Wiebe sold 16,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$150.00, for a total transaction of C$2,487,450.00. In the last three months, insiders have sold 71,495 shares of company stock worth $10,547,163. 52.69% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.