Desjardins Boosts Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Price Target to C$172.00

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) had its target price lifted by Desjardins from C$157.00 to C$172.00 in a report released on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. Desjardins currently has a hold rating on the stock. Desjardins also issued estimates for Loblaw Companies’ Q2 2024 earnings at $2.14 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $2.15 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $9.31 EPS.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. CIBC upped their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$159.00 to C$171.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Securities boosted their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$172.00 to C$186.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday. National Bankshares upped their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$156.00 to C$159.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$148.27 to C$161.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Loblaw Companies currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of C$166.57.

Loblaw Companies Price Performance

TSE:L opened at C$168.30 on Tuesday. Loblaw Companies has a 52 week low of C$110.52 and a 52 week high of C$171.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 156.41. The company has a market capitalization of C$51.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$160.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$150.02.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported C$1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.70 by C$0.02. Loblaw Companies had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 3.53%. The business had revenue of C$13.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$13.29 billion. Equities analysts expect that Loblaw Companies will post 8.3923706 EPS for the current year.

Loblaw Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st were given a $0.513 dividend. This is a positive change from Loblaw Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.05 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Loblaw Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Loblaw Companies

In other Loblaw Companies news, Senior Officer Jeffrey Francis Leger sold 7,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$156.00, for a total value of C$1,107,600.00. In related news, Senior Officer Melanie Singh sold 1,464 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$155.09, for a total value of C$227,046.05. Also, Senior Officer Jeffrey Francis Leger sold 7,100 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$156.00, for a total value of C$1,107,600.00. Insiders have sold 83,929 shares of company stock valued at $13,160,644 over the last three months. 53.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Loblaw Companies Company Profile

Loblaw Companies Limited, a food and pharmacy company, provides grocery, pharmacy and healthcare services, health and beauty products, apparels, general merchandise, financial services, and wireless mobile products and services in Canada. It operates in two segments, Retail and Financial Services. The Retail segment operates corporate and franchise-owned retail food, and associate-owned drug stores.