Metro (TSE:MRU) Share Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$96.73 and traded as high as C$97.67. Metro shares last traded at C$95.85, with a volume of 671,068 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Metro from C$110.00 to C$103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. National Bank Financial cut their target price on shares of Metro from C$107.00 to C$106.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Metro from C$115.00 to C$110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Desjardins cut their price objective on Metro from C$105.00 to C$99.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Securities reduced their target price on Metro from C$118.00 to C$113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$106.25.

Metro Trading Down 1.1%

The company has a 50-day moving average of C$96.90 and a 200 day moving average of C$96.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.33, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company has a market cap of C$20.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.31.

Metro (TSE:MRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The company reported C$1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$5.29 billion during the quarter. Metro had a return on equity of 13.93% and a net margin of 4.44%. Analysts predict that Metro Inc. will post 4.8188614 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Metro news, insider Richard Pruneau sold 2,018 shares of Metro stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$90.87, for a total transaction of C$183,375.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$1,129,786.71. The trade was a 13.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Dan Gabbard sold 2,978 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$96.67, for a total transaction of C$287,883.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,193,294.48. This represents a 19.44% decrease in their position. Insiders sold 11,844 shares of company stock valued at $1,096,119 over the last ninety days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.