Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$36.33.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MFI. National Bank Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Ventum Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$37.00 to C$39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank raised shares of Maple Leaf Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Desjardins set a C$39.00 price target on shares of Maple Leaf Foods and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Ventum Financial set a C$37.00 price target on shares of Maple Leaf Foods and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd.

Maple Leaf Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Maple Leaf Foods stock opened at C$30.26 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 91.78. Maple Leaf Foods has a twelve month low of C$23.35 and a twelve month high of C$36.35. The stock has a market cap of C$3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.19, a P/E/G ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s fifty day moving average is C$29.49 and its 200 day moving average is C$27.40.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.34 earnings per share for the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 36.56%. The company had revenue of C$962.85 million for the quarter. Sell-side analysts forecast that Maple Leaf Foods will post 1.4334187 EPS for the current year.

Maple Leaf Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Maple Leaf Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 20.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Maple Leaf Foods

In other news, Director Jonathan Wallace Ferguson Mccain purchased 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$27.92 per share, with a total value of C$209,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 148,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$4,132,160. The trade was a 5.34% increase in their position. Also, insider Andreas Liris purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$28.36 per share, for a total transaction of C$70,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$439,580. The trade was a 19.23% increase in their position. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 12,500 shares of company stock valued at $350,102 and have sold 142,699 shares valued at $4,176,580. 39.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Maple Leaf Foods Company Profile

Maple Leaf Foods Inc is a consumer-packaged meats company. It produces prepared meats and meals, fresh pork, and poultry and turkey products. The company also has agribusiness operations. These operations supply livestock to the meat products business operations. Its main markets are Canada, the United States, Japan, and China. The key brands are Maple Leaf and Schneiders, Maple Leaf Prime Naturally, Shopsy, Mitchell’s Gourmet Food, Larse, Parm, and Hygrade.