Metro (TSE:MRU) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Metro Inc. (TSE:MRU) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$89.14 and traded as high as C$95.25. Metro shares last traded at C$94.90, with a volume of 312,663 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MRU. Desjardins lifted their price target on Metro from C$85.00 to C$95.00 in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Metro from C$98.00 to C$100.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. National Bankshares lifted their price objective on Metro from C$89.00 to C$94.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Metro from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from C$92.00 to C$96.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Metro from C$98.00 to C$99.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$93.56.

Metro Trading Up 0.1 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$92.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$89.21. 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 capitalization of C$21.01 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.08.

Metro Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This is a positive change from Metro’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 13th. Metro’s payout ratio is 30.93%.

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.