Updating Metro Inc.

Article Excerpt

METRO INC. $42 (Toronto symbol MRU; High-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding 227.7 million; Market cap: $9.6 billion; Dividend yield: 1.5%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.metro.ca) operates 590 grocery stores and 250 drugstores in Quebec and Ontario. The company last raised its quarterly dividend by 16.1%, with the March 2017 payment. Investors receive $0.1625 a share, up from $0.14. The new annual rate of $0.65 yields 1.5%. In its fiscal 2017 third quarter, ended July 1, 2017, Metro’s earnings rose 3.7%, to $183.0 million from $176.5 million a year earlier. Due to fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share gained 8.3%, to $0.78 from $0.72. Overall sales rose 1.4%, to $4.07 billion from $4.02 billion. However, same-store sales fell 0.2% from a year earlier. The decline is mainly due to lower food prices. Rainy weather in eastern Canada also hurt demand for barbeque-related foods. Metro continues to benefit from its 5.7% stake in convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard (Toronto symbol ATD.B). In the…