Metro (TSE:MRU) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$100.22 and last traded at C$100.07, with a volume of 547181 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$97.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MRU shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Metro from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from C$92.00 to C$96.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. National Bankshares boosted their target price on Metro from C$94.00 to C$102.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank raised their price target on Metro from C$98.00 to C$100.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Metro from C$98.00 to C$99.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$94.44.

Metro Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 62.29, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of C$22.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of C$94.04 and a 200-day moving average price of C$89.94.

Metro Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. This is an increase from Metro’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Metro’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.93%.

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.