Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) Stock Has Average Price Target of C$71.44 According to Brokerages

Shares of Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$73.00.

A number of research firms have recently commented on L. Desjardins increased their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$70.00 to C$72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Scotia boosted their price objective on shares of 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. TD Securities upgraded Loblaw Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a C$81.00 target price on Loblaw Companies and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD set a C$75.00 target price on Loblaw Companies and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th.

Loblaw Companies Price Performance

L stock opened at C$70.66 on Tuesday. Loblaw Companies has a 1 year low of C$54.44 and a 1 year high of C$71.06. The company has a market cap of C$81.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.94, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$62.98 and a 200 day moving average of C$63.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 151.15, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last issued its quarterly 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Loblaw Companies will post 9.12 EPS for the current year.

Loblaw Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.1552 per share. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Loblaw Companies news, insider Mark William Henry Wilson sold 24,496 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$62.68, for a total transaction of C$1,535,409.28. Also, insider David Markwell sold 56,240 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$62.07, for a total transaction of C$3,490,816.80. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 324,121 shares of company stock valued at $20,118,530. 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.