Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Sets New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as C$155.01 and last traded at C$154.37, with a volume of 116577 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$152.84.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.513 per share. This is a boost from Loblaw Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.05 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on L shares. Desjardins raised their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$148.00 to C$157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. CIBC raised their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$159.00 to C$171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank raised their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$148.27 to C$161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$170.00 to C$172.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, National Bankshares lifted their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$156.00 to C$159.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$160.71.

Loblaw Companies Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 156.41, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$149.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$133.72. The company has a market cap of C$47.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.12.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported C$2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$1.92 by C$0.08. The company had revenue of C$14.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$14.58 billion. Loblaw Companies had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 3.53%. As a group, research analysts predict that Loblaw Companies Limited will post 8.4881297 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Loblaw Companies

In related news, Senior Officer Kieran Barry Columb sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$150.00, for a total value of C$1,500,000.00. In related news, Senior Officer Kieran Barry Columb sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$150.00, for a total value of C$1,500,000.00. Also, Senior Officer Robert Wayne Wiebe sold 16,583 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$150.00, for a total value of C$2,487,450.00. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,495 shares of company stock valued at $10,547,163. 52.69% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Loblaw Companies

Loblaw Companies Limited, a food and pharmacy company, provides grocery, pharmacy and healthcare services, health and beauty products, apparels, general merchandise, financial services, and wireless mobile products and services in Canada. It operates in two segments, Retail and Financial Services. The Retail segment operates corporate and franchise-owned retail food, and associate-owned drug stores.