# Metro Stores (MRU)



## 6811 (Jan 1, 2013)

MRU is down $2.22 or 3.11% on the day so far but I don't see any bad news, in fact it seems the opposite. Anyone care to enlighten me???

http://www.thestar.com/business/201...tick_helped_by_reorganization_in_ontario.html


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## Afp (Mar 19, 2013)

Hi 6811,

I can't enlighten you with the reason for the drop today but I can comment about the stock that a family member of mine has owned it for almost half a century. This company is one of the best performer of the history of the TSX.

If you invest $ 10,000 into this company 20 years ago, you would have had $294,628.10 by now. Compound interest 18.85% (DRIP).

Meanwhile for TD Bank, your $ 10,000 would have given you $190,707.07 for a compound interest 16.24% (DRIP). Not too bad but Metro gave way better return. Who would have thought of that?


Data from: 
http://longrundata.com/


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## 6811 (Jan 1, 2013)

Thanks for the info Afp,

I can't compete with your family member on the longevity of owning this stock, I only started buying in February. 

Since February MRU has gone from the the low $62 range to it's current price which means I'm up about 14% YTD, but I was surprised at it's 3% swing the other day. Seems to have pretty much recovered though.


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## cashinstinct (Apr 4, 2009)

According to LesAffaires.com (French Canadian business website), part of the backlash might be because of their deal with Target Stores regarding drugs in Quebec.

http://www.lesaffaires.com/bourse/a...la-patience-pour-ses-pharmacies-brunet/571244 (you can google translate).

The drugs stores inside Target in Quebec are "Brunet" drug stores, which is owned by Metro. Metro is probably losing money right now on these deals and might continue for some time.

Also, the competition in the grocery space... with many Walmart stores in renovation to have more groceries than before.

I don't say it justifies the 3% drop, but these kind of news probably did not help.


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## 6811 (Jan 1, 2013)

Wish I'd bought more than a starting position since it's gone from $62.38 to it's current $81.33 for a 31.82% increase (dividends in) since February.

I think Metro's strength lies in the fact that they're smaller and mostly located in neighbourhoods with 'walk-to' convenience and can afford to charge a bit more for basics. I can take a five minute walk over to the local Metro for fresh food almost daily over having to take the car to Wall-mart or other big box store complex (though I do drive to the larger stores, COSTCO, Wall-mart and Loblaws, once or twice a month). My local Metro Plus also has a Brunet Pharmacy at the other end of their parking lot that I find convenient.


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## 6811 (Jan 1, 2013)

WOOT WOOT

Up over $7.00 (8.7%) today!!!


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## leeder (Jan 28, 2012)

6811 said:


> WOOT WOOT
> 
> Up over $7.00 (8.7%) today!!!


Congrats on this one. I took a really long hard look at it when it hit $60 earlier this year. I wanted to see it go down a tad bit more (like another half a dollar per share), but it never did. Hence, another lost opportunity.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

6811 said:


> ... I think Metro's strength lies in the fact that they're smaller and mostly located in neighbourhoods with 'walk-to' convenience and can afford to charge a bit more for basics. I can take a five minute walk over to the local Metro for fresh food almost daily ...


I wonder if it's a Quebec thing ... here in Ontario, the Metro, Loblaws and FreshCo that are all within a twenty minute walk are the same size.


Cheers


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## 6811 (Jan 1, 2013)

Eclectic12 said:


> I wonder if it's a Quebec thing ... here in Ontario, the Metro, Loblaws and FreshCo that are all within a twenty minute walk are the same size.
> 
> 
> Cheers


Maybe just my locale too. The local Metro and IGA stores are about the same size but the Loblaws is at least a third bigger and I pretty much have to take the car to get to it.


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## 6811 (Jan 1, 2013)

Up over $6.00 on the day!!!

UPDATE 1-Canadian grocer Metro revenue beats estimates


Jan 27 (Reuters) - Canadian grocer Metro Inc reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue and profit as same-store sales rose 3.8 percent, the biggest increase since the third quarter of 2009.

*The company increased its quarterly dividend to 35 Canadian cents per common share from 30 Canadian cents and also announced a 3-for-1 stock split.
*
Metro, which reorganized its Ontario store network, converted some of its Metro stores into Food Basics discount grocery outlets to attract customers looking to spend less amid subdued growth in the economy.

The company also benefited from the acquisition of a majority stake in Quebec-based bakery product manufacturer and retailer Première Moisson in June, which added to revenue for the first time last quarter.

Net income rose to C$112.5 million ($90.2 million), or C$1.30 per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 20, from C$99.2 million, or C$1.06 per share, a year earlier.

Adjusted net earnings were C$1.35 per share.

The Montreal, Quebec-based company's revenue rose about 5 percent to C$2.84 billion.

Analysts on average had expected a profit of C$1.31 per share on revenue of C$2.79 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Metro's shares closed at C$97.26 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Monday. The stock had risen about 56 percent in the past 12 months. ($1 = 1.2476 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Manya Venkatesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

Surprised nobody has been discussing this stock. It's been one of the steadiest gainers in Canada over the last 10 years including during the pandemic. It jumped another 5% yesterday and hit a new all time high. I hold 50 shares in my growth/momentum portfolio.


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## P_I (Dec 2, 2011)

Nothing particularly special about it's business or products. Slow but steady growth, modest dividend yield. All that adds up to a very boring investment that has rewarded shareholders for a long time but doesn't attract much interest in this day and age of investing.


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## james4beach (Nov 15, 2012)

P_I said:


> Nothing particularly special about it's business or products. Slow but steady growth, modest dividend yield. All that adds up to a very boring investment that has rewarded shareholders for a long time but doesn't attract much interest in this day and age of investing.


It's been 20 years of pretty amazing performance. Here are the risk-adjusted return metrics compared to the TSX index

MRU has as Sharpe ratio of 0.79 and Sortino ratio of 1.36
XIU has a Sharpe ratio of 0.38 and Sortino ratio of 0.52

Those are pretty impressive results from MRU. It's an indication of high performance with more stability / less risk than the index. Historically speaking, MRU has been a better investment than both the Canadian & US stock indexes.


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## like_to_retire (Oct 9, 2016)

Yeah, in the Consumer Staples sector (which has been my best performing sector this year), MRU and NWC are my two grocers. I've held them a long time. They've both always performed well, especially MRU. Compared to Loblaw, over 10 years MRU has done much better..

ltr


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## Ponderling (Mar 1, 2013)

yes, last year when L has analyst saying sector perform and a target price 5% down in year, well that was when I sold L. MRU has been a keeper though.


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## Afp (Mar 19, 2013)

Afp said:


> Hi 6811,
> 
> I can't enlighten you with the reason for the drop today but I can comment about the stock that a family member of mine has owned it for almost half a century. This company is one of the best performer of the history of the TSX.
> 
> ...


I gave up on this site years ago but tonight I decide to visit for nostalgia. 

Wow... I can't believe I am reading my own post that I wrote 6 years ago. 6811, I hope you are doing well and this stock has treated you well. I bought MRU around the same time as you did, added more several times during its down years and never sell a single share of it.

To new investors who maybe on the fence, I have made many investment mistakes but owning this kind of company bailed me out and helped me become financial independent. 

I am in debt to many members here, the like of Kcowan, Eder, AltaRed, Just A Guy, hboy43 (think he's hboy54 now - maybe after he upsized his boat), etc... You guys have taught me so much and you guys are the reason people like me keep coming back here (even after years)!


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