Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Stock Rating Lowered by Scotiabank

Scotiabank cut shares of Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. Scotiabank currently has C$200.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. TD Securities dropped their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$203.00 to C$202.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. National Bankshares upped their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$188.00 to C$195.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group set a C$225.00 price target on Loblaw Companies and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. CIBC upped their price objective on Loblaw Companies from C$189.00 to C$206.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$205.00 to C$217.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$201.88.

Loblaw Companies Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of L stock opened at C$184.00 on Wednesday. Loblaw Companies has a 1 year low of C$126.15 and a 1 year high of C$196.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 163.32, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of C$56.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.88, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$186.19 and a 200-day moving average price of C$176.47.

Loblaw Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a dividend of $0.513 per share. This represents a $2.05 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Loblaw Companies’s payout ratio is 31.06%.

Insider Transactions at Loblaw Companies

In related news, Director Christie James Beckett Clark sold 2,105 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$189.69, for a total value of C$399,297.45. Insiders own 53.77% of the company’s stock.

About Loblaw Companies

Loblaw is one of Canada’s largest grocery, pharmacy, and general merchandise retailers, operating the most expansive store footprint in Ontario and maintaining sizable presences in provinces like Quebec and British Columbia. Key grocery banners include Loblaw, No Frills, and Maxi, while its pharmaceutical operations are the product of its 2014 acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart.