National Bank Financial Analysts Give Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) a C$70.00 Price Target

National Bank Financial set a C$70.00 target price on Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) in a report released on Thursday morning,BayStreet reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on L. TD set a C$75.00 price target on Loblaw Companies and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Scotia lifted their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$64.00 to C$67.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on 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. Desjardins upped their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$70.00 to C$72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, TD Securities upgraded Loblaw Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Loblaw Companies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$71.44.

Loblaw Companies Stock Down 0.3%

L stock opened at C$61.28 on Thursday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is C$63.11 and its 200 day moving average price is C$63.07. Loblaw Companies has a 52 week low of C$52.92 and a 52 week high of C$69.59. The company has a market cap of C$70.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.06.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported C$0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Loblaw Companies had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 25.25%. The company had revenue of C$15.05 billion during the quarter. On average, research analysts expect that Loblaw Companies will post 9.1225541 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Loblaw Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st will be issued a $0.1552 dividend. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 24.51%.

Insider Activity at Loblaw Companies

In other news, insider Mark William Henry Wilson sold 24,496 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$62.68, for a total transaction of C$1,535,409.28. Also, insider Per Bank sold 39,762 shares of the firm’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 transaction of C$2,465,641.62. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 203,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$12,626,662.23. This trade represents a 16.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders sold 267,881 shares of company stock worth $16,627,713 over the last quarter. 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.