Scotiabank Raises Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Price Target to C$161.00

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) had its target price upped by Scotiabank from C$148.27 to C$161.00 in a report issued on Thursday, BayStreet.CA reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on L. Desjardins boosted their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$148.00 to C$157.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. National Bankshares upped their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$156.00 to C$159.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$159.00 to C$171.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Securities upped their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$150.00 to C$160.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$170.00 to C$172.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Loblaw Companies has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of C$162.43.

Loblaw Companies Price Performance

Loblaw Companies stock opened at C$153.93 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is C$149.47 and its 200 day moving average price is C$133.99. Loblaw Companies has a 1 year low of C$110.52 and a 1 year high of C$155.22. The stock has a market capitalization 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 156.41, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.25.

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

Loblaw Companies Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Robert Wayne Wiebe sold 16,583 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 other news, Senior Officer Robert Wayne Wiebe sold 16,583 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. Also, Senior Officer Frank Gambioli sold 4,603 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$144.00, for a total value of C$662,832.00. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 71,495 shares of company stock valued at $10,547,163. 53.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Loblaw Companies Company Profile

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.