Safeway (NYSE: SWY)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.
The analysts wrote, “Safeway announced initial FY2013 guidance this morning of $2.25-$2.45, slightly better than the $2.25-2.37 we previewed and higher than our estimate of $2.27 and consensus of $2.24. We believe that heading into the analyst meeting today, investors were expecting upbeat guidance given strong 4Q results and positive commentary from quarter to date results.”
Safeway traded up 1.03% on Wednesday, hitting $24.55. Safeway has a 52-week low of $14.73 and a 52-week high of $24.43. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $20.58. The company has a market cap of $5.820 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.12.
Safeway last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 21st. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $13.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Safeway will post $2.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.
SWY has been the subject of a number of other recent research reports. Analysts at Bank of America upgraded shares of Safeway from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note to investors on Monday, February 25th. They now have a $24.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $18.00. Separately, analysts at JPMorgan Chase raised their price target on shares of Safeway from $23.00 to $27.00 in a research note to investors on Friday, February 22nd. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, analysts at Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Safeway from $20.00 to $23.00 in a research note to investors on Friday, February 22nd.
Safeway Inc. (Safeway) is a food and drug retailer in North America. As of December 3 1, 2011, the Company had 1,678 stores.
Get Analysts' Upgrades and Downgrades via Email - Stay on top of analysts' coverage with Analyst Ratings Network's FREE daily email newsletter that provides a concise list of analysts' upgrades and downgrades. Click here to register now.
