Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Reaches New 12-Month High at $24.40

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$24.40 and last traded at C$174.75, with a volume of 121128 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$175.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on L shares. National Bankshares upped their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$159.00 to C$175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$160.00 to C$180.00 in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Desjardins lifted their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$157.00 to C$172.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Securities upped their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$172.00 to C$186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, CIBC lifted their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$171.00 to C$189.00 in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$176.43.

Loblaw Companies Trading Down 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 163.32, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of C$53.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.17. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of C$167.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$157.53.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported C$2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of C$2.14 by C$0.01. The firm had revenue of C$13.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$14.07 billion. Loblaw Companies had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 3.46%. As a group, research analysts expect that Loblaw Companies Limited will post 8.5218888 EPS for the current year.

Loblaw Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.513 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. Loblaw Companies's payout ratio is presently 30.97%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Senior Officer Kieran Barry Columb sold 32,500 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$156.01, for a total value of C$5,070,380.25. In other Loblaw Companies news, Senior Officer Kieran Barry Columb sold 32,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$156.01, for a total transaction of C$5,070,380.25. Also, Senior Officer Nicholas Henn sold 164 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$165.15, for a total value of C$27,084.39. Insiders sold 38,460 shares of company stock valued at $6,037,349 over the last quarter. 53.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Loblaw Companies Company Profile

Loblaw Companies Limited, a food and pharmacy company, provides grocery, pharmacy and healthcare services, health and beauty products, apparels, general merchandise, financial services, and wireless mobile products and services in Canada. It operates in two segments, Retail and Financial Services. The Retail segment operates corporate and franchise-owned retail food, and associate-owned drug stores.