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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MRU. TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Metro from C$118.00 to C$113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Scotia reduced their price target on shares of Metro from C$103.00 to C$96.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Metro from C$110.00 to C$105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. National Bank Financial reduced their price target on shares of Metro from C$106.00 to C$105.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Desjardins reduced their price target on shares of Metro from C$99.00 to C$97.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$103.63.

Metro Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of C$18.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.64, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s fifty day moving average price is C$92.30 and its 200-day moving average price is C$95.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.30, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

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

Metro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. Metro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.36%.

About Metro

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.