Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Hits New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Shares of Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as C$155.01 and last traded at C$154.37, with a volume of 116577 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$152.84.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.513 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This is a positive change from Loblaw Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Loblaw Companies’s payout ratio is 27.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on L. CIBC raised their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$159.00 to C$171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. National Bankshares lifted their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$156.00 to C$159.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$148.27 to C$161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$130.00 to C$145.00 in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Desjardins increased their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$148.00 to C$157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Loblaw Companies has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$162.43.

Loblaw Companies Stock Down 0.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 156.41, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of C$47.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of C$149.29 and a 200-day moving average price of C$133.72.

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

Insider Transactions at Loblaw Companies

In other news, Senior Officer Jeffrey Francis Leger sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$146.00, for a total transaction of C$1,460,000.00. In related news, Senior Officer Jeffrey Francis Leger sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$146.00, for a total transaction of C$1,460,000.00. Also, 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. Insiders sold 71,495 shares of company stock valued at $10,547,163 over the last three months. Company insiders own 52.69% of the company’s stock.

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.