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

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

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

Metro Stock Performance

TSE:MRU opened at C$89.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of C$19.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.94, a PEG ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 64.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is C$84.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$80.91. Metro has a twelve month low of C$65.43 and a twelve month high of C$90.72.

Metro Announces Dividend

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

About Metro

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.