CIBC Boosts Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Price Target to C$171.00

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) had its target price boosted by CIBC from C$159.00 to C$171.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, BayStreet.CA reports. CIBC currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on L. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$170.00 to C$172.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$130.00 to C$145.00 in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. National Bankshares lifted their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$156.00 to C$159.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$146.00 to C$148.27 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$150.00 to C$160.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of C$162.43.

Loblaw Companies Stock Down 0.4 %

L opened at C$153.93 on Thursday. Loblaw Companies has a 12 month low of C$110.52 and a 12 month high of C$155.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 156.41, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of C$47.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is C$149.47 and its 200 day moving average price is C$133.99.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported C$2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$1.92 by C$0.08. Loblaw Companies had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 3.53%. The firm had revenue of C$14.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$14.58 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Loblaw Companies will post 8.5138274 earnings per share for the current year.

Loblaw Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.513 per share. This is a boost from Loblaw Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.60%.

Insider Activity at Loblaw Companies

In other Loblaw Companies news, Senior Officer Robert Wayne Wiebe sold 16,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$150.00, for a total value of C$2,487,450.00. In related news, Senior Officer Robert Wayne Wiebe sold 16,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$150.00, for a total transaction of C$2,487,450.00. Also, Senior Officer Kieran Barry Columb sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$150.00, for a total value of C$1,500,000.00. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 71,495 shares of company stock valued at $10,547,163. Insiders own 53.26% of the company’s stock.

About Loblaw Companies

Loblaw Companies Limited, a food and pharmacy company, provides grocery, pharmacy and healthcare services, health and beauty products, apparels, general merchandise, financial services, and wireless mobile products and services in Canada. It operates in two segments, Retail and Financial Services. The Retail segment operates corporate and franchise-owned retail food, and associate-owned drug stores.