Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$197.00.

L has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank raised shares of Loblaw Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 27th. UBS Group set a C$225.00 target price on shares of Loblaw Companies and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. National Bankshares lifted their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$188.00 to C$195.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$205.00 to C$217.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$189.00 to C$206.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

Loblaw Companies Trading Down 1.3 %

TSE:L opened at C$188.97 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of C$57.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is C$185.85 and its 200 day moving average price is C$176.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 163.32, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.36. Loblaw Companies has a 52 week low of C$126.15 and a 52 week high of C$196.49.

Loblaw Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were given a $0.513 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. Loblaw Companies’s payout ratio is 31.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Loblaw Companies

In related news, Director Christie James Beckett Clark sold 2,105 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$189.69, for a total value of C$399,297.45. Corporate insiders own 53.77% of the company’s stock.

About Loblaw Companies

Loblaw is one of Canada’s largest grocery, pharmacy, and general merchandise retailers, operating the most expansive store footprint in Ontario and maintaining sizable presences in provinces like Quebec and British Columbia. Key grocery banners include Loblaw, No Frills, and Maxi, while its pharmaceutical operations are the product of its 2014 acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart.