National Bank Financial Equities Analysts Lower Earnings Estimates for Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L)

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) – Stock analysts at National Bank Financial reduced their Q2 2024 EPS estimates for shares of Loblaw Companies in a research report issued on Wednesday, May 1st. National Bank Financial analyst V. Shreedhar now expects that the company will post earnings of $2.15 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $2.17. The consensus estimate for Loblaw Companies’ current full-year earnings is $8.49 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Loblaw Companies’ Q4 2024 earnings at $2.20 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $8.46 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.90 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $2.34 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.40 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $9.24 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$148.27 to C$161.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. National Bankshares upped their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$156.00 to C$159.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Desjardins lifted their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$148.00 to C$157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. CIBC increased their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$159.00 to C$171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$130.00 to C$145.00 in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$162.43.

Loblaw Companies Stock Performance

Shares of L stock opened at C$153.93 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of C$149.29 and a 200-day moving average of C$133.72. Loblaw Companies has a one year low of C$110.52 and a one year high of C$155.22. The stock has a market cap of C$47.60 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 156.41, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported C$2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$1.92 by C$0.08. The firm had revenue of C$14.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$14.58 billion. Loblaw Companies had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 3.53%.

Insider Activity

In other Loblaw Companies news, Senior Officer Frank Gambioli sold 4,603 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$144.00, for a total transaction of C$662,832.00. In related news, Senior Officer Kieran Barry Columb sold 10,000 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$150.00, for a total value of C$1,500,000.00. Also, Senior Officer Frank Gambioli sold 4,603 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$144.00, for a total value of C$662,832.00. Insiders have sold a total of 71,495 shares of company stock worth $10,547,163 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 52.69% of the company’s stock.

Loblaw Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a $0.513 dividend. This is an increase from Loblaw Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.05 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.30%.

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.