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

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L)’s share price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$63.23 and traded as high as C$64.40. Loblaw Companies shares last traded at C$64.18, with a volume of 944,891 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

L has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotia lowered their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$70.00 to C$64.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Scotiabank cut shares of Loblaw Companies from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$70.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce decreased their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$75.00 to C$69.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$69.25.

Loblaw Companies Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 153.41, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$62.99 and a 200-day moving average of C$63.23. The firm has a market capitalization of C$74.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.13.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Loblaw Companies had a return on equity of 24.88% and a net margin of 4.29%.The business had revenue of C$14.48 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Loblaw Companies Limited will post 9.1225541 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Loblaw Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.1552 per share. This is a positive change from Loblaw Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Loblaw Companies’s payout ratio is currently 24.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Loblaw Companies news, insider Melanie Singh sold 4,820 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$66.72, for a total transaction of C$321,590.40. Also, Director Nicholas Henn sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$67.00, for a total value of C$670,000.00. Company insiders own 53.77% of the company’s stock.

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. The firm carries a robust private-label assortment, with top sellers like President’s Choice and No Name. In addition to its retail operations, Loblaw oversees a financial-services business, which provides credit card services and guaranteed investment certificates, and also operates its PC Optimum loyalty program.