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

Shares of Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$73.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on L shares. TD set a C$75.00 price objective on Loblaw Companies and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Desjardins increased their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$70.00 to C$72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of 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 shares of Loblaw Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a C$81.00 price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd.

Loblaw Companies Price Performance

TSE L opened at C$68.92 on Tuesday. Loblaw Companies has a 1 year low of C$54.44 and a 1 year high of C$71.06. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of C$63.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$63.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 151.15. The company has a market cap of C$79.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.02.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported C$0.66 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$15.05 billion for the quarter. Loblaw Companies had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 25.25%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Loblaw Companies will post 9.12 EPS for the current year.

Loblaw Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 1st were given a dividend of $0.1552 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.51%.

Insider Activity at Loblaw Companies

In other Loblaw Companies news, insider Per Bank sold 203,623 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$62.01, for a total value of C$12,626,662.23. Also, insider David Markwell sold 56,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. Insiders have sold 324,121 shares of company stock worth $20,118,530 over the last three months. Company 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.