Desjardins Brokers Cut Earnings Estimates for Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L)

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L) – Analysts at Desjardins cut their Q1 2024 earnings per share estimates for Loblaw Companies in a research note issued on Sunday, April 28th. Desjardins analyst C. Li now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $1.72 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.75. Desjardins has a “Hold” rating and a $157.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Loblaw Companies’ current full-year earnings is $8.49 per share. Desjardins also issued estimates for Loblaw Companies’ Q2 2024 earnings at $2.14 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $2.47 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $9.27 EPS.

Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported C$2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.92 by C$0.08. Loblaw Companies had a net margin of 3.53% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The firm had revenue of C$14.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$14.58 billion.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on L. National Bankshares increased their target price on Loblaw Companies from C$153.00 to C$156.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$150.00 to C$160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$170.00 to C$172.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$146.00 to C$148.27 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, CIBC decreased their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$150.00 to C$149.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$155.32.

Loblaw Companies Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Loblaw Companies stock opened at C$152.64 on Tuesday. Loblaw Companies has a twelve month low of C$110.52 and a twelve month high of C$154.70. The stock has a market cap of C$47.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 156.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of C$148.52 and a 200 day moving average price of C$133.18.

Loblaw Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.446 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Loblaw Companies’s payout ratio is 27.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Senior Officer Kieran Barry Columb sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$150.00, for a total value of C$1,500,000.00. In related news, Senior Officer Kieran Barry Columb sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$150.00, for a total transaction of C$1,500,000.00. Also, Senior Officer Robert Wayne Wiebe sold 16,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$150.00, for a total transaction of C$2,487,450.00. Over the last three months, insiders sold 71,495 shares of company stock worth $10,547,163. Corporate insiders own 52.69% of the company’s stock.

Loblaw Companies Company Profile

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.