Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$103.63.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank cut Metro from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$103.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Metro from C$110.00 to C$105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Scotia reduced their price target on Metro from C$103.00 to C$96.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Desjardins reduced their price target on Metro from C$99.00 to C$97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reduced their price target on Metro from C$101.00 to C$97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Metro Stock Performance

TSE:MRU opened at C$91.50 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of C$19.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is C$90.58 and its 200-day moving average is C$94.68. Metro has a 1-year low of C$86.63 and a 1-year high of C$107.78.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported C$1.11 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$5.11 billion for the quarter. Metro had a return on equity of 14.38% and a net margin of 4.52%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Metro will post 4.8188614 earnings per share for the current year.

Metro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. Metro’s payout ratio is 32.36%.

Metro Company Profile

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.