Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, May 4, 2018

Article Excerpt

LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD., $64.77, Toronto symbol L, operates 1,084 supermarkets across Canada. It also owns the Shoppers Drug Mart chain of 1,335 drugstores. Starting with the July 2018 payment, the company will raise its quarterly dividend by 9.3%. Investors will then receive $0.295 a share, up from $0.27. The new annual rate of $1.18 yields 1.8%. In the three months ended March 24, 2018, Loblaw’s overall sales fell 0.4%, to $10.37 billion from $10.40 billion a year earlier. That’s mainly because the company sold all of its 213 gas stations in July 2017 for $540 million. Excluding gasoline purchases, same-store sales at its supermarkets rose 1.9%. Higher food volumes offset slightly lower prices. Same-store sales for Shoppers Drug Mart rose 3.7%. That reflects a 3.5% rise in prescription drug sales and a 3.8% increase in the sale of other merchandise. Earnings in the quarter declined 1.4%, to $361 million from $366 million a year earlier. Loblaw spent $544 million on share buybacks in the latest…