Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of C$104.00

Shares of Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$104.00.

MRU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Metro from C$111.00 to C$110.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. National Bank Financial lowered their price target on shares of Metro from C$105.00 to C$102.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. TD Securities raised shares of Metro to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Metro from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from C$105.00 to C$95.00 in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a C$112.00 price objective on shares of Metro and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Metro Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of TSE MRU opened at C$96.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$20.16 billion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 71.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$90.82 and a 200-day moving average of C$91.20. Metro has a 52-week low of C$86.63 and a 52-week high of C$101.30.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported C$1.24 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$6.97 billion during the quarter. Metro had a return on equity of 12.87% and a net margin of 4.00%. On average, analysts anticipate that Metro will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Metro Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 22nd. Metro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.94%.

Insider Transactions at Metro

In other Metro news, insider Alain Tadros sold 960 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$90.27, for a total value of C$86,659.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 5,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$537,287.04. This represents a 13.89% decrease in their position. Also, insider Simon Rivet sold 2,650 shares of Metro stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$89.35, for a total transaction of C$236,777.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 20,225 shares in the company, valued at C$1,807,103.75. This represents a 11.58% decrease in their position. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Metro Company Profile

With annual sales of more than $22 billion, METRO Inc is a food and pharmacy leader in Québec and Ontario, providing employment to more than 97,000 people. Its purpose is to Nourish the health and well-being of our communities. As a retailer, franchisor, distributor, manufacturer, and provider of eCommerce services, the company operates or services a network of some 1,000 food stores under several banners including Metro, Metro Plus, Super C, Food Basics, Adonis and Première Moisson, and some 640 pharmacies primarily under the Jean Coutu, Brunet, Metro Pharmacy and Food Basics Pharmacy banners.