Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Sets New 52-Week High at $22.99

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$22.99 and last traded at C$171.68, with a volume of 79060 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$171.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on L. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$148.27 to C$161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$160.00 to C$180.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$171.00 to C$189.00 in a report on Friday, July 26th. National Bankshares increased their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$159.00 to C$175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Desjardins increased their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$157.00 to C$172.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$176.43.

Loblaw Companies Trading Up 0.3 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is C$165.11 and its 200 day moving average price is C$155.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 163.32, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of C$52.80 billion, a PE ratio of 26.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.17.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported C$2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$2.14 by C$0.01. Loblaw Companies had a net margin of 3.46% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The company had revenue of C$13.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$14.07 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Loblaw Companies Limited will post 8.5147929 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Loblaw Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.513 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.05 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

Insider Transactions at Loblaw Companies

In other news, Senior Officer Nicholas Henn sold 164 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$165.15, for a total value of C$27,084.39. In other news, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 296 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$165.15, for a total value of C$48,884.02. Also, Senior Officer Nicholas Henn sold 164 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$165.15, for a total transaction of C$27,084.39. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,460 shares of company stock worth $6,037,349. 53.39% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.