Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) Stock Has Average Target Price of C$36.33 According to Brokerages

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) has earned an average rating of “Buy” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings 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 objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$36.33.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$39.00 to C$37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Ventum Financial cut their target price on Maple Leaf Foods from C$39.00 to C$37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Maple Leaf Foods from C$36.00 to C$33.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. TD Securities upgraded Maple Leaf Foods to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a C$36.00 price target on Maple Leaf Foods and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th.

Maple Leaf Foods Price Performance

Shares of TSE:MFI opened at C$24.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 97.47, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of C$3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.08, a P/E/G ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a 50 day moving average of C$26.90 and a 200-day moving average of C$28.75. Maple Leaf Foods has a one year low of C$23.35 and a one year high of C$31.87.

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

Maple Leaf Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th were paid a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 8th. Maple Leaf Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Andrew Gordon Macdonald purchased 10,000 shares of Maple Leaf Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$26.78 per share, with a total value of C$267,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 72,200 shares in the company, valued at C$1,933,516. This trade represents a 16.08% increase in their position. Insiders own 39.87% of the company’s stock.

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.