Cascades (TSE:CAS) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Cascades Inc. (TSE:CAS) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$14.22 and last traded at C$14.20, with a volume of 354188 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$13.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD upped their price target on Cascades from C$13.00 to C$15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. National Bank Financial cut their price objective on shares of Cascades from C$14.00 to C$13.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Cascades from C$15.00 to C$14.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of Cascades from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Desjardins dropped their target price on shares of Cascades from C$15.00 to C$13.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$13.93.

Cascades Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of C$11.42 and a 200 day moving average price of C$11.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 113.03, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of C$1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.16, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.03.

Cascades (TSE:CAS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$1.12 billion during the quarter. Cascades had a return on equity of 5.95% and a net margin of 2.15%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cascades Inc. will post 1.2959309 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cascades Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 4th were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Cascades’s payout ratio is currently 48.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Laurent Lemaire acquired 23,302 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$10.52 per share, with a total value of C$245,137.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 7,837,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$82,451,941.24. The trade was a 0.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. Corporate insiders own 23.78% of the company’s stock.

About Cascades

Founded in 1964, Cascades offers sustainable, innovative and value-added solutions for packaging, hygiene and recovery needs. The company employs approximately 9,000 talented people across a network of 60 production units in North America. With its participative management, half a century of experience in recycling, and ongoing efforts in research and development as driving forces, Cascades continues to deliver the innovative products that customers have come to rely on, while contributing to the well-being of people, communities and the entire planet.