Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Reaches New 52-Week High at $157.60

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$157.60 and last traded at C$156.24, with a volume of 112059 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$154.50.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities lifted their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$168.00 to C$172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Desjardins boosted their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$148.00 to C$157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$148.27 to C$161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$170.00 to C$172.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, CIBC raised their target price on 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$162.43.

Loblaw Companies Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of C$47.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, 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$150.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$135.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 156.41, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last announced 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 firm had revenue of C$14.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$14.58 billion. Loblaw Companies had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 3.53%. On average, research analysts expect that Loblaw Companies Limited will post 8.5138274 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Loblaw Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly 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. This is a boost from Loblaw Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.05 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.60%.

Insider Transactions at Loblaw Companies

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. In other news, Senior Officer Robert Wayne Wiebe sold 16,583 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$150.00, for a total value of C$2,487,450.00. Also, Senior Officer Jeffrey Francis Leger sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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. Insiders sold a total of 71,495 shares of company stock worth $10,547,163 in the last three months. Insiders own 53.26% 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.