Metro (TSE:MRU) Hits New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) shares hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as C$88.74 and last traded at C$89.07, with a volume of 36234 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$89.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Metro from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$103.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Metro from C$118.00 to C$113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Metro from C$112.00 to C$113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered their target price on shares of Metro from C$101.00 to C$97.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Desjardins lowered their price objective on shares of Metro from C$99.00 to C$97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$103.63.

Metro Stock Down 0.9%

The company’s 50 day moving average price is C$94.32 and its 200 day moving average price is C$96.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.30. The firm has a market capitalization of C$18.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.34.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported C$1.11 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 during the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that Metro Inc. will post 4.8188614 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Metro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. Metro’s payout ratio is presently 32.36%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Dan Gabbard sold 2,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$96.67, for a total transaction of C$287,883.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 12,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$1,193,294.48. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.