Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) Receives C$199.38 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$199.38.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on L. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$202.00 to C$195.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank cut Loblaw Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a C$200.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$205.00 to C$217.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$225.00 to C$210.00 in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, CIBC raised their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$206.00 to C$208.00 in a report on Friday, February 21st.

Insider Transactions at Loblaw Companies

In other Loblaw Companies news, Senior Officer Kieran Barry Columb sold 11,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$186.55, for a total value of C$2,109,706.39. Also, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 104,364 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$182.50, for a total transaction of C$19,046,690.91. Insiders sold a total of 141,456 shares of company stock valued at $25,966,244 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 53.77% of the company’s stock.

Loblaw Companies Stock Performance

Loblaw Companies stock opened at C$196.18 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is C$183.98 and its 200 day moving average is C$182.61. The company has a market capitalization of C$59.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.63, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.17. Loblaw Companies has a twelve month low of C$145.80 and a twelve month high of C$196.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 166.11.

Loblaw Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.513 per share. This represents a $2.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Loblaw Companies’s payout ratio is 27.83%.

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.