Hey there,
MRU is an excellent consumer defensive stock. The latest downturn may be an opportunity here. Over the past decade, Metro handily beat out Loblaws in total returns. However, this came with valuation risk as Metro was always more expensive than Loblaw. It is one of the main reasons we added Loblaw to our foundation list the past two years instead of Metro.
However, in the past five years, their performance have been inline with each other and Loblaw's recent run has finally closed the valuation gap. Now they both appear fairly valued here. Interestingly, Loblaw is expected to outpace Metro in terms of growth over the next couple of years, which is a reverse of pace from previous years when Metro outpaced Loblaw.
Overall, i think both are very similar. They have the same yield and both their dividends are exceptionally well covered. The only difference as you pointed out is Metro's higher dividend growth rate. Bottom line, I think both MRU and L make for excellent consumer defensive stocks here.
Mat