Top grocer has strong long-term prospects

Article Excerpt

LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD. $65 (Toronto symbol L; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 379.0 million; Market cap: $24.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.5; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.loblaw.ca) operates 1,084 supermarkets under a variety of banners: Loblaw, 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 1,335 drug stores across Canada. Thanks to that purchase, Loblaw’s overall sales rose 44.3%, from $32.4 billion in 2013 to $46.7 billion in 2017. Shoppers purchase more than doubled earnings If you exclude costs to integrate Shoppers and other unusual items, earnings soared 158.5%, from $696 million in 2013 to $1.8 billion in 2017. Due to the additional shares outstanding as a result of the Shoppers purchase, per-share earnings rose at a slower rate of 82.7%, from $2.48 to $4.53. For the three months ended March 24, 2018, Loblaw’s overall sales fell 0.4%, to $10.37 billion from…