Metro (TSE:MRU) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) shares reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as C$86.63 and last traded at C$88.49, with a volume of 353482 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$88.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Desjardins dropped their price objective on shares of Metro from C$99.00 to C$97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Scotiabank lowered shares of Metro from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$103.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce dropped 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 research note on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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 research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, National Bank Financial dropped 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 research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$103.63.

Metro Stock Up 0.0%

The company has a market capitalization of C$18.67 billion, a PE ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.30, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of C$91.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$95.40.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported C$1.11 EPS for the quarter. Metro had a return on equity of 14.38% and a net margin of 4.52%.The company had revenue of C$5.11 billion during the quarter. On average, research analysts predict that Metro Inc. will post 4.8188614 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Metro Dividend Announcement

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