Saputo (TSE:SAP) Shares Break Above 200 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$41.22 and traded as high as C$41.53. Saputo shares last traded at C$41.23, with a volume of 442,288 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a C$45.00 price target on shares of Saputo and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. TD lifted their price objective on Saputo from C$51.00 to C$53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Ventum Financial set a C$49.00 price objective on shares of Saputo and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Ventum Capital set a C$49.00 price target on shares of Saputo and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, National Bank Financial upped their target price on Saputo from C$44.00 to C$45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$48.10.

Saputo Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 41.86. The stock has a market capitalization of C$16.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of C$39.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$41.21.

Saputo (TSE:SAP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$4.42 billion during the quarter. Saputo had a return on equity of 7.45% and a net margin of 2.80%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Saputo Inc. will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Saputo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 25th were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Saputo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Saputo’s payout ratio is currently 64.52%.

About Saputo

Saputo, one of the top ten dairy processors in the world, produces, markets, and distributes a wide array of dairy products of the utmost quality, including cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream products, cultured products, and dairy ingredients. Saputo is a leading cheese manufacturer and fluid milk and cream processor in Canada and a leading dairy processor in Australia. In the USA, Saputo ranks among the top three cheese producers and is one of the top producers of extended shelf-life and cultured dairy products.