Metro (TSE:MRU) Reaches New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$100.22 and last traded at C$100.07, with a volume of 547181 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$97.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on Metro from C$98.00 to C$100.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Metro from C$96.00 to C$110.00 in a research report on Friday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Metro from C$98.00 to C$99.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, National Bankshares upped their target price on shares of Metro from C$94.00 to C$102.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of C$96.00.

Metro Trading Down 1.3 %

The firm has a market cap of C$22.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.08. The business's 50 day moving average is C$94.41 and its 200-day moving average is C$90.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 62.29.

Metro Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. This is an increase from Metro's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Metro's payout ratio is presently 30.93%.

About Metro

Metro Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer, franchisor, distributor, and manufacturer in the food and pharmaceutical sectors in Canada. The company operates supermarkets, discount, neighborhood, and specialty stores that provide fresh and grocery products, baked goods, prepared food products, meats, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, frozen food products, bakery products, delicatessen items, and pastries.