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

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$106.25.

A number of research firms have issued reports on MRU. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Metro from C$118.00 to C$113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. National Bank Financial cut their price objective on Metro from C$107.00 to C$106.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Desjardins lowered their target price on Metro from C$105.00 to C$99.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce dropped their price target on Metro from C$105.00 to C$101.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Metro from C$110.00 to C$103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th.

Metro Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Metro stock opened at C$97.31 on Tuesday. Metro has a 12-month low of C$89.64 and a 12-month high of C$109.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 62.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of C$97.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$97.21. The stock has a market capitalization of C$20.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.13.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported C$1.16 earnings per share for the quarter. Metro had a net margin of 4.50% and a return on equity of 13.80%. The business had revenue of C$5.29 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts expect that Metro will post 4.8188614 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Metro

In other Metro news, insider Genevi�Ve Bich sold 4,418 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$91.13, for a total value of C$402,612.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 35,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$3,251,245.01. This represents a 11.02% decrease in their position. Also, insider Paolo Bravi sold 2,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$91.46, for a total transaction of C$222,247.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 19,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,804,505.80. The trade was a 10.97% decrease in their position. Insiders have sold 11,844 shares of company stock valued at $1,096,119 in the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.