Metro (TSE:MRU) Shares Break Below 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) shares crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$91.56 and traded as low as C$89.47. Metro shares last traded at C$89.69, with a volume of 919,364 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on MRU shares. National Bank Financial reduced their price objective on Metro from C$105.00 to C$102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut Metro from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from C$105.00 to C$95.00 in a report on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Metro from C$111.00 to C$110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. TD Securities raised shares of Metro to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, TD raised their price objective on shares of Metro from C$106.00 to C$108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Metro currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$102.33.

Metro Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of C$18.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 71.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of C$90.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$91.55.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported C$1.24 EPS for the quarter. Metro had a return on equity of 12.87% and a net margin of 4.00%.The company had revenue of C$6.97 billion during the quarter. Analysts forecast that Metro Inc. will post 4.8188614 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Metro Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 3rd. Metro’s payout ratio is currently 36.94%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Simon Rivet sold 2,650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$89.35, for a total value of C$236,777.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,225 shares in the company, valued at C$1,807,103.75. This represents a 11.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Alain Tadros sold 960 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$90.27, for a total transaction of C$86,659.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$537,287.04. The trade was a 13.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Metro

With annual sales of more than $22 billion, METRO Inc is a food and pharmacy leader in Québec and Ontario, providing employment to more than 97,000 people. Its purpose is to Nourish the health and well-being of our communities. As a retailer, franchisor, distributor, manufacturer, and provider of eCommerce services, the company operates or services a network of some 1,000 food stores under several banners including Metro, Metro Plus, Super C, Food Basics, Adonis and Première Moisson, and some 640 pharmacies primarily under the Jean Coutu, Brunet, Metro Pharmacy and Food Basics Pharmacy banners.