National Bankshares Boosts Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Price Target to C$156.00

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) had its target price hoisted by National Bankshares from C$153.00 to C$156.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$150.00 to C$160.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Desjardins raised their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$133.00 to C$148.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. CIBC cut their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$150.00 to C$149.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$170.00 to C$172.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$137.00 to C$146.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Loblaw Companies presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of C$153.71.

Loblaw Companies Stock Performance

TSE L opened at C$149.01 on Monday. Loblaw Companies has a 1 year low of C$110.52 and a 1 year high of C$154.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 156.41, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of C$46.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$146.04 and a 200-day moving average price of C$131.14.

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

Loblaw Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.446 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. Loblaw Companies’s payout ratio is presently 27.30%.

Insider Activity at Loblaw Companies

In other Loblaw Companies news, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 13,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$145.84, for a total value of C$1,947,558.04. In other news, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 13,354 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$145.84, for a total transaction of C$1,947,558.04. Also, Senior Officer Jeffrey Francis Leger sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$146.00, for a total value of C$1,460,000.00. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,495 shares of company stock worth $10,547,163. Company insiders own 52.69% of the company’s stock.

Loblaw Companies Company Profile

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.