Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Share Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$177.99 and traded as high as C$187.59. Loblaw Companies shares last traded at C$187.16, with a volume of 307,529 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on L shares. TD Securities decreased their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$203.00 to C$202.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Scotiabank cut shares of Loblaw Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a C$200.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group set a C$225.00 price target on shares of Loblaw Companies and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$205.00 to C$217.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, National Bankshares raised their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$188.00 to C$195.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$201.88.

Loblaw Companies Trading Up 1.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 163.32, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of C$57.16 billion, a PE ratio of 28.36, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$185.92 and a 200 day moving average price of C$177.99.

Loblaw Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.513 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.05 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.10%. Loblaw Companies’s payout ratio is 31.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.