Saputo (TSE:SAP) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$35.95 and last traded at C$35.48, with a volume of 84964 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$34.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on SAP. National Bankshares upped their price target on shares of Saputo from C$29.00 to C$35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Saputo from C$35.00 to C$37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Desjardins lifted their price objective on shares of Saputo from C$31.00 to C$36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Saputo from C$38.00 to C$40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Saputo from C$27.00 to C$34.00 in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$35.75.

Saputo Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is C$33.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$30.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 51.68. The stock has a market capitalization of C$14.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -101.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.07.

Saputo Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Saputo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Saputo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -223.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Leanne Cutts purchased 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$32.93 per share, for a total transaction of C$131,720.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 23,500 shares in the company, valued at C$773,855. The trade was a 20.51% increase in their position. Insiders own 40.45% of the company’s stock.

About Saputo

Saputo is a global dairy processor domiciled in Canada (28% of fiscal 2022 sales) with operations in the United States (43%), the U.K. (6%), and other international markets (23%). It sells cheese, cream, fluid milk, and other dairy products. In the retail segment (50% of revenue), its mix of brands include Saputo, Armstrong, Cheer, Cathedral City, and Frylight.