Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) shares passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$63.23 and traded as high as C$64.40. Loblaw Companies shares last traded at C$64.18, with a volume of 944,891 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

L has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotia dropped their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$70.00 to C$64.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$75.00 to C$69.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank cut Loblaw Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$70.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$69.25.

Loblaw Companies Stock Up 1.2%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$62.99 and a 200 day moving average of C$63.23. The stock has a market capitalization of C$74.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 153.41.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$0.52 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$14.48 billion during the quarter. Loblaw Companies had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 4.29%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Loblaw Companies Limited will post 9.1225541 earnings per share for the current year.

Loblaw Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were paid a $0.1552 dividend. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Loblaw Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Loblaw Companies’s payout ratio is currently 24.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Loblaw Companies news, insider Melanie Singh sold 4,820 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$66.72, for a total value of C$321,590.40. Also, Director Nicholas Henn sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$67.00, for a total transaction of C$670,000.00. 53.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.