Metro (TSE:MRU) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from C$84.00 to C$90.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a buy rating on the stock. Metro traded as high as C$87.24 and last traded at C$87.01, with a volume of 74164 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$86.16.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Metro from C$82.00 to C$85.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Desjardins increased their price target on Metro from C$75.00 to C$80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Cfra raised their target price on shares of Metro from C$76.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. National Bankshares raised their target price on shares of Metro from C$85.00 to C$88.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, CIBC raised their price target on shares of Metro from C$77.00 to C$86.00 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$85.00.

Metro Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of C$84.41 and a 200 day moving average price of C$79.92. The firm has a market cap of C$19.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 64.18, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The company reported C$1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of C$1.35. Metro had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 13.74%. The business had revenue of C$6.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$6.58 billion. Research analysts forecast that Metro Inc. will post 4.8188614 earnings per share for the current year.

Metro Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Metro’s payout ratio is presently 32.76%.

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.