Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$103.63.

Several research firms recently commented on MRU. Scotia reduced their target price on shares of Metro from C$103.00 to C$96.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Metro from C$112.00 to C$113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Desjardins reduced their target price on shares of Metro from C$99.00 to C$97.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. National Bank Financial reduced their target price on shares of Metro from C$106.00 to C$105.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reduced their target price on shares of Metro from C$101.00 to C$97.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Metro Price Performance

MRU stock opened at C$89.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.30, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 1.43. Metro has a 52 week low of C$88.33 and a 52 week high of C$109.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is C$93.92 and its 200 day moving average is C$96.07. The firm has a market cap of C$18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.34.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported C$1.11 EPS for the quarter. Metro had a net margin of 4.52% and a return on equity of 14.38%. The company had revenue of C$5.11 billion for the quarter. Research analysts predict that Metro will post 4.8188614 earnings per share for the current year.

Metro Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Metro’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Metro news, insider Dan Gabbard sold 2,978 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$96.67, for a total transaction of C$287,883.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 12,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$1,193,294.48. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.