National Bank Financial Predicts Reduced Earnings for Metro

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) – Research analysts at National Bank Financial cut their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Metro in a research note issued on Tuesday, November 5th. National Bank Financial analyst V. Shreedhar now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $1.11 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.12. The consensus estimate for Metro’s current full-year earnings is $4.82 per share.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on MRU. Desjardins upped their price target on shares of Metro from C$75.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. TD Securities upgraded Metro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from C$80.00 to C$92.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. National Bankshares lifted their price target on Metro from C$85.00 to C$88.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Metro from C$82.00 to C$85.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Cfra raised their price objective on shares of Metro from C$76.00 to C$85.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Metro has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$84.25.

Metro Stock Performance

TSE:MRU opened at C$85.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of C$19.09 billion, a PE ratio of 20.96, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.08. Metro has a 1 year low of C$65.43 and a 1 year high of C$87.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 64.18. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$84.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$79.68.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported C$1.35 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.35. Metro had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 13.74%. The company had revenue of C$6.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$6.58 billion.

Metro Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 24th. Metro’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.76%.

Metro Company Profile

Metro Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer, franchisor, distributor, and manufacturer in the food and pharmaceutical sectors in Canada. The company operates supermarkets, discount, neighborhood, and specialty stores that provide fresh and grocery products, baked goods, prepared food products, meats, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, frozen food products, bakery products, delicatessen items, and pastries.