Metro (TSE:MRU) Shares Cross Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) shares crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$99.24 and traded as low as C$98.38. Metro shares last traded at C$98.64, with a volume of 322,114 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MRU. National Bankshares decreased their target price on Metro from C$110.00 to C$107.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Metro from C$115.00 to C$110.00 in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Metro from C$108.00 to C$110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Desjardins set a C$105.00 target price on shares of Metro and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$109.13.

Metro Stock Up 0.1%

The firm has a market cap of C$21.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 62.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$97.59 and a 200-day moving average of C$99.24.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The company reported C$1.13 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$5.11 billion during the quarter. Metro had a return on equity of 13.80% and a net margin of 4.50%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Metro Inc. will post 4.8188614 earnings per share for the current year.

Metro Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 23rd. Metro’s payout ratio is presently 31.21%.

About Metro

Metro is one of the largest grocery retailers in Canada. With its 2018 acquisition of Jean Coutu, it also boasts a meaningful drugstore footprint. Noteworthy grocery banners include Metro, Metro Plus, Super C, and Food Basics, while its pharmacies primarily operate under the Jean Coutu and Brunet trademarks. It utilizes an array of business models, but it most frequently acts as either a retailer, operating individual stores, or a franchiser, licensing its trademarks and supplying merchandise to franchisees.