Brokerages Set Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) PT at C$106.25

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$106.25.

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRU. TD Securities lowered their target price on Metro from C$118.00 to C$113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Metro from C$115.00 to C$110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered their target price on Metro from C$105.00 to C$101.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Scotiabank downgraded Metro from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$103.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday. Finally, National Bank Financial lowered their price target on Metro from C$107.00 to C$106.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Dan Gabbard sold 2,978 shares of Metro stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$96.67, for a total transaction of C$287,883.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,193,294.48. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Richard Pruneau sold 2,018 shares of Metro stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$90.87, for a total value of C$183,375.66. Following the sale, the insider owned 12,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,129,786.71. This trade represents a 13.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold a total of 11,844 shares of company stock valued at $1,096,119 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Metro Trading Down 1.3%

Metro stock opened at C$92.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$95.76 and a 200 day moving average of C$96.32. The firm has a market capitalization of C$19.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.34. Metro has a 12-month low of C$89.64 and a 12-month high of C$109.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.33.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported C$1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Metro had a net margin of 4.44% and a return on equity of 13.93%. The company had revenue of C$5.29 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that Metro will post 4.8188614 earnings per share for the current year.

Metro Company Profile

Metro is one of the largest grocery retailers in Canada. With its 2018 acquisition of Jean Coutu, it also boasts a meaningful drugstore footprint. Noteworthy grocery banners include Metro, Metro Plus, Super C, and Food Basics, while its pharmacies primarily operate under the Jean Coutu and Brunet trademarks. It utilizes an array of business models, but it most frequently acts as either a retailer, operating individual stores, or a franchiser, licensing its trademarks and supplying merchandise to franchisees.