Metro (TSE:MRU) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) shares hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as C$87.84 and last traded at C$88.14, with a volume of 648007 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$89.32.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRU. National Bank Financial dropped their price target on Metro from C$106.00 to C$105.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Scotia cut their price target on Metro from C$103.00 to C$96.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Scotiabank lowered shares of Metro from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a C$103.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Metro from C$112.00 to C$113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Metro from C$110.00 to C$105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Metro currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$103.63.

Metro Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$93.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$95.97. The stock has a market capitalization of C$18.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.30, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported C$1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$5.11 billion during the quarter. Metro had a return on equity of 14.38% and a net margin of 4.52%. Research analysts expect that Metro Inc. will post 4.8188614 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Metro Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.4075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Metro’s payout ratio is currently 32.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Metro news, insider Dan Gabbard sold 2,978 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$96.67, for a total value of C$287,883.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,193,294.48. This trade represents a 19.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

About Metro

Metro is one of the largest grocery retailers in Canada. With its 2018 acquisition of Jean Coutu, it also boasts a meaningful drugstore footprint. Noteworthy grocery banners include Metro, Metro Plus, Super C, and Food Basics, while its pharmacies primarily operate under the Jean Coutu and Brunet trademarks. It utilizes an array of business models, but it most frequently acts as either a retailer, operating individual stores, or a franchiser, licensing its trademarks and supplying merchandise to franchisees.