Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston Sells 79,200 Shares

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) Director Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 79,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$144.88, for a total value of C$11,474,503.92.

Willard Galen Garfield Weston also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 4th, Willard Galen Garfield Weston sold 13,354 shares of Loblaw Companies stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$145.84, for a total value of C$1,947,558.04.

Loblaw Companies Stock Performance

TSE:L opened at C$157.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of C$48.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.12. Loblaw Companies Limited has a fifty-two week low of C$110.52 and a fifty-two week high of C$157.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 156.41, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$151.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$137.04.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported C$2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.92 by C$0.08. The business had revenue of C$14.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$14.58 billion. Loblaw Companies had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 3.53%. Research analysts anticipate that Loblaw Companies Limited will post 8.5138274 earnings per share for the current year.

Loblaw Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a $0.513 dividend. This is an increase from Loblaw Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $2.05 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Loblaw Companies’s payout ratio is 30.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

L has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Securities lifted their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$168.00 to C$172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. National Bankshares increased their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$156.00 to C$159.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$148.27 to C$161.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Desjardins boosted their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$148.00 to C$157.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$130.00 to C$145.00 in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$162.43.

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.