Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at TD Securities

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) was upgraded by equities researchers at TD Securities to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Loblaw Companies from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from C$68.00 to C$70.00 in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$75.00 to C$69.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Loblaw Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$70.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Scotia lowered their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$70.00 to C$64.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$69.50.

Loblaw Companies Price Performance

Shares of TSE L opened at C$66.03 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 153.41. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$64.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$63.55. Loblaw Companies has a 1-year low of C$52.92 and a 1-year high of C$69.59. The firm has a market cap of C$76.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.13.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Loblaw Companies had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 4.29%.The firm had revenue of C$14.48 billion for the quarter. Analysts anticipate that Loblaw Companies will post 9.1225541 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Loblaw Companies

In related news, insider Melanie Singh sold 4,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$66.72, for a total transaction of C$321,590.40. Also, Director Nicholas Henn sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$67.00, for a total value of C$670,000.00. Corporate insiders own 53.77% of the company’s stock.

Loblaw Companies Company Profile

Loblaw is one of Canada’s largest grocery, pharmacy, and general merchandise retailers, operating the most expansive store footprint in Ontario and maintaining sizable presences in provinces like Quebec and British Columbia. Key grocery banners include Loblaw, No Frills, and Maxi, while its pharmaceutical operations are the product of its 2014 acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart. The firm carries a robust private-label assortment, with top sellers like President’s Choice and No Name. In addition to its retail operations, Loblaw oversees a financial-services business, which provides credit card services and guaranteed investment certificates, and also operates its PC Optimum loyalty program.