National Bank Financial Predicts Reduced Earnings for Metro

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) – Equities researchers at National Bank Financial cut their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Metro in a report released on Wednesday, April 16th. National Bank Financial analyst V. Shreedhar now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $5.35 per share for the year, down from their previous forecast of $5.36. The consensus estimate for Metro’s current full-year earnings is $4.82 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Metro’s Q4 2026 earnings at $1.29 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $5.84 EPS.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on MRU. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Metro from C$100.00 to C$110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Metro from C$99.00 to C$105.00 in a report on Thursday. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Metro from C$91.00 to C$106.00 in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Metro from C$90.00 to C$98.00 in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, National Bankshares increased their price target on Metro from C$102.00 to C$107.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Metro has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$102.00.

Metro Stock Performance

TSE MRU opened at C$102.08 on Friday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of C$69.19 and a fifty-two week high of C$103.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of C$96.19 and a 200-day moving average of C$91.26. The stock has a market cap of C$22.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.08.

Metro Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. This is a positive change from Metro’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Metro’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.