Supermarket firms gain from drugstore chains

Article Excerpt

LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD. $76 (Toronto symbol L; Conservative-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 365.5 million; Market cap: $27.8 billion; Dividend yield: 1.7%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.loblaw.ca) operates 1,085 supermarkets under several banners, including Loblaws, Zehrs, Provigo, Real Canadian Superstore and No Frills. In March 2014, the company purchased the Shoppers Drug Mart chain for $12.3 billion in cash and shares. Shoppers now operates 1,338 drug stores across Canada. With the June 2019 payment, Loblaw raised its quarterly dividend by 6.8%. Investors now receive $0.315 a share instead of $0.295. The new annual rate of $1.26 yields 1.7%. The company earned $373 million from ongoing operations in the three months ended June 15, 2019. That’s unchanged from a year earlier. Due to fewer shares outstanding, per-share earnings increased 3.1%, to $1.01 from $0.98. Loblaw’s revenue rose 2.9%, to $11.1 billion from $10.82 billion. The company recently expanded its use of computer modelling programs to improve profit margins at its supermarkets. However, that led to more-modest price…