Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$103.63.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRU. National Bank Financial cut their price target on shares of Metro from C$106.00 to C$105.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Desjardins cut their price target on shares of Metro from C$99.00 to C$97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Scotiabank lowered shares of Metro from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$103.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their price target on shares of Metro from C$101.00 to C$97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Metro from C$118.00 to C$113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th.

Metro Stock Up 0.6%

TSE MRU opened at C$87.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.30, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is C$91.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$95.53. Metro has a 12 month low of C$87.12 and a 12 month high of C$109.20. The company has a market capitalization of C$18.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.75, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.34.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported C$1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Metro had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 14.38%. The business had revenue of C$5.11 billion for the quarter. Equities research analysts expect that Metro will post 4.8188614 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Metro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Metro’s payout ratio is currently 32.36%.

About Metro

Metro is one of the largest grocery retailers in Canada. With its 2018 acquisition of Jean Coutu, it also boasts a meaningful drugstore footprint. Noteworthy grocery banners include Metro, Metro Plus, Super C, and Food Basics, while its pharmacies primarily operate under the Jean Coutu and Brunet trademarks. It utilizes an array of business models, but it most frequently acts as either a retailer, operating individual stores, or a franchiser, licensing its trademarks and supplying merchandise to franchisees.