Metro (TSE:MRU) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU)’s stock price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$96.89 and traded as high as C$99.70. Metro shares last traded at C$97.99, with a volume of 539,622 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRU has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Metro from C$118.00 to C$113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Desjardins cut their price objective on Metro from C$105.00 to C$99.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. National Bank Financial decreased their target price on Metro from C$107.00 to C$106.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Metro from C$115.00 to C$110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Metro from C$110.00 to C$103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$106.25.

Metro Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is C$97.21 and its 200-day moving average price is C$96.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 62.29. The firm has a market cap of C$20.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.13.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported C$1.16 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$5.29 billion during the quarter. Metro had a return on equity of 13.80% and a net margin of 4.50%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Metro Inc. will post 4.8188614 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Metro

In other news, insider Dan Gabbard sold 2,978 shares of Metro stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$96.67, for a total value of C$287,883.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,193,294.48. The trade was a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Paolo Bravi sold 2,430 shares of Metro stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$91.46, for a total value of C$222,247.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,804,505.80. This represents a 10.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,844 shares of company stock valued at $1,096,119. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.