Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$77.86.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRU. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Metro from C$76.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Metro from C$83.00 to C$82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Metro from C$73.00 to C$75.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Desjardins lifted their price target on shares of Metro from C$74.00 to C$75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on Metro from C$74.50 to C$74.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd.

Metro Trading Up 1.0 %

TSE MRU opened at C$73.27 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 64.39. The stock has a market capitalization of C$16.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.04. Metro has a 52-week low of C$65.43 and a 52-week high of C$78.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$72.04 and a 200 day moving average price of C$70.62.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported C$0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of C$0.91. Metro had a return on equity of 14.55% and a net margin of 4.64%. The company had revenue of C$4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$4.63 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Metro will post 4.2672566 EPS for the current year.

Metro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be issued a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. Metro’s payout ratio is currently 31.38%.

Metro Company Profile

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.