Look for Canada’s food sellers to move up

Article Excerpt

Thanks to rising food prices, the shares of these two leading supermarket chains are hitting new all-time highs. Even so, they continue to trade at reasonable multiples in relation to their respective earnings. LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD. $118 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol L; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 324.0 million; Market cap: $38.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.loblaw.ca) operates 1,092 supermarkets under several banners, including Loblaws, Zehrs, Provigo, Real Canadian Superstore and No Frills. It also operates 1,344 associate-owned Shoppers Drug Mart locations. In the quarter ended October 8, 2022, Loblaw’s overall sales rose 8.3%, to $17.39 billion from $16.05 billion a year earlier. Same-store sales for its supermarkets rose 6.9% from a year earlier due to higher prices and customer traffic. Shoppers Drug Mart’s overall same-store sales gained 7.7% in the quarter. Pharmacy same-store sales growth was 4.7%, thanks to a higher number of filled prescriptions and higher prices. Same-store sales of other…