Royal Bank of Canada Downgrades Metro (TSE:MRU) to Hold

Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Metro (TSE:MRU) from a moderate buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

MRU has been the topic of several other reports. Cfra lifted their price objective on Metro from C$76.00 to C$85.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Metro from C$82.00 to C$85.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. CIBC upped their price target on Metro from C$86.00 to C$91.00 in a research note on Thursday. National Bankshares raised their price objective on Metro from C$85.00 to C$88.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Desjardins upped their target price on shares of Metro from C$85.00 to C$95.00 in a research report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$87.50.

Metro Trading Up 0.8 %

TSE:MRU opened at C$89.73 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$84.71 and a 200-day moving average price of C$80.80. The stock has a market cap of C$19.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 64.18. Metro has a 12 month low of C$65.43 and a 12 month high of C$90.72.

Metro Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 24th. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Metro’s payout ratio is presently 32.76%.

Metro Company Profile

Metro Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer, franchisor, distributor, and manufacturer in the food and pharmaceutical sectors in Canada. The company operates supermarkets, discount, neighborhood, and specialty stores that provide fresh and grocery products, baked goods, prepared food products, meats, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, frozen food products, bakery products, delicatessen items, and pastries.