Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$77.21.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MRU shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Metro from C$83.00 to C$82.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. National Bankshares increased their price target on shares of Metro from C$80.00 to C$81.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 15th. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Metro from C$76.00 to C$78.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Metro from C$77.00 to C$74.50 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Metro from C$73.00 to C$75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st.

Metro Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of Metro stock opened at C$69.96 on Friday. Metro has a fifty-two week low of C$65.43 and a fifty-two week high of C$78.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 65.71, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of C$15.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of C$72.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$70.66.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported C$1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.99 by C$0.03. Metro had a return on equity of 15.00% and a net margin of 4.81%. The company had revenue of C$4.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$4.86 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Metro will post 4.2576393 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Metro Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 14th. This is a boost from Metro’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Metro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.66%.

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.