Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$106.25.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Metro from C$110.00 to C$103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Metro from C$115.00 to C$110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Metro from C$112.00 to C$113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Desjardins reduced their target price on shares of 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. Finally, National Bank Financial decreased their target price on shares of Metro from C$107.00 to C$106.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Metro

In other Metro news, insider Dan Gabbard sold 2,978 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$96.67, for a total transaction of C$287,883.26. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,344 shares in the company, valued at C$1,193,294.48. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Paolo Bravi sold 2,430 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider owned 19,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,804,505.80. This trade represents a 10.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders sold a total of 11,844 shares of company stock worth $1,096,119 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Metro Trading Up 0.8%

TSE MRU opened at C$94.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.33. Metro has a 1-year low of C$89.64 and a 1-year high of C$109.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$96.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$96.34. The company has a market capitalization of C$20.15 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.31.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported C$1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Metro had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 4.44%.The firm had revenue of C$5.29 billion during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Metro will post 4.8188614 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.