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

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$79.86.

Several research firms have issued reports on MRU. TD Securities raised Metro from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from C$80.00 to C$92.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Metro from C$82.00 to C$84.00 in a research report on Friday, July 12th. National Bankshares raised their price objective on Metro from C$80.00 to C$82.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Desjardins raised their price target on Metro from C$74.00 to C$75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on Metro from C$76.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th.

Metro Stock Performance

Metro stock opened at C$82.15 on Tuesday. Metro has a 52-week low of C$65.43 and a 52-week high of C$83.16. The firm has a market capitalization of C$18.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$76.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$73.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 64.39, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported C$0.91 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.91. Metro had a return on equity of 14.55% and a net margin of 4.64%. The business had revenue of C$4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$4.63 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Metro will post 4.2740275 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Metro Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 4th were paid a $0.335 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Metro’s dividend payout ratio is 31.38%.

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.