Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$77.86.

MRU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Desjardins upped their price target on shares of Metro from C$74.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Metro from C$74.50 to C$74.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Metro from C$76.00 to C$77.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Metro from C$78.00 to C$80.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, National Bankshares increased their target price on shares of 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.

Metro Price Performance

Shares of MRU opened at C$73.56 on Thursday. Metro has a 1-year low of C$65.43 and a 1-year high of C$77.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 64.39, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market capitalization of C$16.60 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is C$72.08 and its 200-day moving average price is C$70.74.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported C$0.91 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of C$0.91. Metro had a net margin of 4.64% and a return on equity of 14.55%. The company had revenue of C$4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$4.63 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Metro will post 4.2672566 EPS for the current year.

Metro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 4th will be given a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Metro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.