Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) Receives C$36.42 Average PT from Analysts

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$36.33.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. National Bank Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$36.00 to C$34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Scotia increased their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$32.00 to C$36.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$36.00 to C$33.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$39.00 to C$37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of Maple Leaf Foods to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd.

Maple Leaf Foods Price Performance

Shares of TSE MFI opened at C$26.62 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 97.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is C$29.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$29.03. The company has a market cap of C$3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 6.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.32. Maple Leaf Foods has a twelve month low of C$23.35 and a twelve month high of C$36.35.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported C$0.44 earnings per share for the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a return on equity of 36.83% and a net margin of 13.08%.The business had revenue of C$1.02 billion for the quarter. On average, analysts predict that Maple Leaf Foods will post 1.4334187 EPS for the current year.

Maple Leaf Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Maple Leaf Foods’s payout ratio is currently 20.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Curtis Eugene Frank sold 96,191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$29.25, for a total transaction of C$2,813,586.75. Following the transaction, the director owned 101,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,967,968.25. This trade represents a 48.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Randall Huffman sold 5,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$29.45, for a total value of C$149,458.75. Following the transaction, the insider owned 89,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,622,345.80. This trade represents a 5.39% decrease in their position. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 137,829 shares of company stock valued at $4,036,811. 39.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Maple Leaf Foods

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.