Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Cut to “Hold” at Scotiabank

Scotiabank downgraded shares of Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) from an outperform rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has C$70.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on L. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$68.00 to C$72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. National Bank Financial upped their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$62.00 to C$66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Desjardins upped their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$67.00 to C$70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. TD Securities upped their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$65.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$63.00 to C$68.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$92.63.

Loblaw Companies Price Performance

TSE L opened at C$63.21 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of C$74.08 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.30. Loblaw Companies has a 52 week low of C$49.75 and a 52 week high of C$69.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 227.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is C$64.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$61.37.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported C$0.67 earnings per share for the quarter. Loblaw Companies had a return on equity of 24.03% and a net margin of 4.17%.The firm had revenue of C$15.70 billion for the quarter. Research analysts predict that Loblaw Companies will post 9.1225541 earnings per share for the current year.

Loblaw Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st were given a $0.1411 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 24.84%.

About Loblaw Companies

Loblaw is one of Canada’s largest grocery, pharmacy, and general merchandise retailers, operating the most expansive store footprint in Ontario and maintaining sizable presences in provinces like Quebec and British Columbia. Key grocery banners include Loblaw, No Frills, and Maxi, while its pharmaceutical operations are the product of its 2014 acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart. The firm carries a robust private-label assortment, with top sellers like President’s Choice and No Name. In addition to its retail operations, Loblaw oversees a financial-services business, which provides credit card services and guaranteed investment certificates, and also operates its PC Optimum loyalty program.