Metro (TSE:MRU) Reaches New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as C$87.57 and last traded at C$87.81, with a volume of 85115 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$89.25.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRU has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Metro from C$118.00 to C$113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their price target on shares of Metro from C$101.00 to C$97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Metro from C$110.00 to C$105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. National Bank Financial cut their price target on shares of Metro from C$106.00 to C$105.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Desjardins cut their price target on shares of Metro from C$99.00 to C$97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$103.63.

Metro Trading Down 2.0%

The firm has a market cap of C$18.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.34. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is C$92.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$95.63.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported C$1.11 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$5.11 billion for the quarter. Metro had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 14.38%. As a group, analysts expect that Metro Inc. will post 4.8188614 earnings per share for the current year.

Metro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. Metro’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.36%.

Metro Company Profile

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.