Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) Stock Has Average Target Price of C$71.44 According to Brokerages

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$71.44.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on L. Scotia upped their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$64.00 to C$67.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$70.00 to C$73.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. TD Securities upgraded Loblaw Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Desjardins raised their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$70.00 to C$72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, TD set a C$75.00 target price on Loblaw Companies and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th.

Loblaw Companies Price Performance

Loblaw Companies stock opened at C$62.71 on Friday. Loblaw Companies has a fifty-two week low of C$52.92 and a fifty-two week high of C$69.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 151.15, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is C$62.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$62.95. The stock has a market cap of C$72.47 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.06.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported C$0.66 EPS for the quarter. Loblaw Companies had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 25.25%. The firm had revenue of C$15.05 billion during the quarter. Research analysts predict that Loblaw Companies will post 9.1225541 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Loblaw Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.1552 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Loblaw Companies news, insider David Markwell sold 56,240 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$62.07, for a total value of C$3,490,816.80. Also, insider Per Bank sold 39,762 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$62.01, for a total transaction of C$2,465,641.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 203,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$12,626,662.23. This represents a 16.34% decrease in their position. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 324,121 shares of company stock worth $20,118,530. Insiders own 53.77% of the company’s stock.

Loblaw Companies Company Profile

Loblaw is Canada’s food and pharmacy leader, and the nation’s largest retailer. Loblaw provides Canadians with grocery, pharmacy, health and beauty, apparel, general merchandise, financial services and wireless mobile products and services. With more than 2,800 corporate franchised and Associate-owned locations, Loblaw, its franchisees and Associate-owners employ more than 220,000 full- and part-time employees, making it one of Canada’s largest private sector employers. Loblaw’s purpose – Live Life Well® – puts first the needs and well-being of Canadians who make one billion transactions annually in the company’s stores.