Loblaw Companies (TSE:L) Share Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Loblaw Companies Limited (TSE:L - Get Free Report) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$200.73 and traded as high as C$226.25. Loblaw Companies shares last traded at C$223.79, with a volume of 249,526 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

L has been the subject of several research reports. National Bankshares boosted their price target on Loblaw Companies from C$207.00 to C$234.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$200.00 to C$220.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$210.00 to C$253.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. CIBC raised their price target on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$208.00 to C$234.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Loblaw Companies from C$195.00 to C$245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Loblaw Companies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of C$236.88.

Loblaw Companies Price Performance

The company has a market cap of C$68.10 billion, a PE ratio of 30.57, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 166.11, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company's 50-day simple moving average is C$222.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$201.04.

Loblaw Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.5643 per share. This represents a $2.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This is a positive change from Loblaw Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Loblaw Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Senior Officer Per Bank sold 13,924 shares of Loblaw Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$223.00, for a total transaction of C$3,105,054.78. Also, Senior Officer Frank Gambioli sold 1,304 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$213.87, for a total value of C$278,880.09. Insiders sold a total of 27,328 shares of company stock valued at $6,132,567 over the last three months. 53.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Loblaw Companies Company Profile

Loblaw is one of Canada's largest grocery, pharmacy, and general merchandise retailers, operating the most expansive store footprint in Ontario and maintaining sizable presences in provinces like Quebec and British Columbia. Key grocery banners include Loblaw, No Frills, and Maxi, while its pharmaceutical operations are the product of its 2014 acquisition of Shoppers Drug Mart.