Investment analysts at Barclays Capital lifted their target price on shares of Safeway (NYSE: SWY) from $17.00 to $20.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the stock.

Shares of Safeway (NYSE: SWY) traded up 2.54% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.00. Safeway has a 52 week low of $14.73 and a 52 week high of $25.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $21.60. The company has a market cap of $5.927 billion and a P/E ratio of 10.16.

Safeway (NYSE: SWY) last released its earnings data on Thursday, February 21st. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $13.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Safeway will post $2.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SWY has been the subject of a number of other recent research reports. Analysts at BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Safeway in a research note to investors on Friday, March 8th. They now have a $28.00 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on shares of Safeway from $22.00 to $24.00 in a research note to investors on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, analysts at JPMorgan Chase reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Safeway in a research note to investors on Thursday, March 7th. They now have a $27.00 price target on the stock.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which is scheduled for Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%.

Safeway Inc. (Safeway) is a food and drug retailer in North America. As of December 3 1, 2011, the Company had 1,678 stores.

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