Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Price Target Increased to C$161.00 by Analysts at Scotiabank

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) had its price objective raised by Scotiabank from C$148.27 to C$161.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on L. TD Securities raised their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$150.00 to C$160.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Desjardins upped their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$148.00 to C$157.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$130.00 to C$145.00 in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$170.00 to C$172.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$159.00 to C$171.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Loblaw Companies presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of C$162.43.

Loblaw Companies Trading Down 0.4 %

TSE:L opened at C$153.93 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$149.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$134.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 156.41. The firm has a market capitalization of C$47.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.12. Loblaw Companies has a 1-year low of C$110.52 and a 1-year high of C$155.22.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported C$2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.92 by C$0.08. Loblaw Companies had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The company had revenue of C$14.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$14.58 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Loblaw Companies will post 8.5138274 earnings per share for the current year.

Loblaw Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a $0.513 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This is a positive change from Loblaw Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Loblaw Companies’s payout ratio is presently 30.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Senior Officer Jeffrey Francis Leger sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$146.00, for a total value of C$1,460,000.00. In other news, Senior Officer Jeffrey Francis Leger sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$146.00, for a total transaction of C$1,460,000.00. Also, Senior Officer Frank Gambioli sold 4,603 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$144.00, for a total value of C$662,832.00. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 71,495 shares of company stock valued at $10,547,163. Insiders own 53.26% of the company’s stock.

Loblaw Companies Company Profile

Loblaw Companies Limited, a food and pharmacy company, provides grocery, pharmacy and healthcare services, health and beauty products, apparels, general merchandise, financial services, and wireless mobile products and services in Canada. It operates in two segments, Retail and Financial Services. The Retail segment operates corporate and franchise-owned retail food, and associate-owned drug stores.