Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) Senior Officer Jeffrey Francis Leger Sells 7,100 Shares

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) Senior Officer Jeffrey Francis Leger sold 7,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$156.00, for a total value of C$1,107,600.00.

Jeffrey Francis Leger also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, February 28th, Jeffrey Francis Leger sold 10,000 shares of Loblaw Companies stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$147.50, for a total value of C$1,475,000.00.
• On Monday, February 26th, Jeffrey Francis Leger sold 10,000 shares of Loblaw Companies stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$146.00, for a total transaction of C$1,460,000.00.

Loblaw Companies Price Performance

Shares of L traded up C$1.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching C$156.60. The company had a trading volume of 106,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 357,239. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is C$151.20 and its 200-day moving average is C$136.59. Loblaw Companies Limited has a twelve month low of C$110.52 and a twelve month high of C$157.60. The company has a market capitalization of C$48.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.12.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported C$2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.92 by C$0.08. Loblaw Companies had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The firm had revenue of C$14.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$14.58 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Loblaw Companies Limited will post 8.5138274 EPS for the current year.

Loblaw Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.513 per share. This is an increase 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 1.31%. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 30.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on L. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$170.00 to C$172.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$130.00 to C$145.00 in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$159.00 to C$171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Securities upped their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$168.00 to C$172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$148.27 to C$161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$162.43.

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.