Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.51 Per Share

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 1st, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be given a dividend of 0.513 per share on Monday, July 1st. This represents a $2.05 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This is an increase from Loblaw Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45.

Loblaw Companies Price Performance

Shares of Loblaw Companies stock traded up C$1.23 on Thursday, hitting C$154.07. 15,862 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 360,437. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 156.41. Loblaw Companies has a 12-month low of C$110.52 and a 12-month high of C$154.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is C$149.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$133.58. The company has a market cap of C$47.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.12.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported C$2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.92 by C$0.08. The business had revenue of C$14.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$14.58 billion. Loblaw Companies had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 18.96%. Analysts expect that Loblaw Companies will post 8.4881297 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Loblaw Companies

In related news, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 13,354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$145.84, for a total value of C$1,947,558.04. In other news, Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 13,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$145.84, for a total transaction of C$1,947,558.04. Also, Senior Officer Robert Wayne Wiebe sold 16,583 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$150.00, for a total transaction of C$2,487,450.00. Insiders have sold a total of 71,495 shares of company stock valued at $10,547,163 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 52.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$130.00 to C$145.00 in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Desjardins upped their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$148.00 to C$157.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$170.00 to C$172.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$150.00 to C$160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$146.00 to C$148.27 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$155.32.

About Loblaw Companies

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.