Analysts Set Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) Target Price at C$46.33

Shares of Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$46.11.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SAP. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Saputo from C$47.00 to C$49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Saputo from C$41.00 to C$42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Desjardins raised their price objective on shares of Saputo from C$45.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price objective on shares of Saputo from C$40.00 to C$44.00 in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Saputo from C$51.00 to C$52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th.

Saputo Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Saputo stock opened at C$41.25 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 59.15, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50-day moving average of C$41.98 and a 200 day moving average of C$40.43. The firm has a market cap of C$16.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.44, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.10. Saputo has a 1 year low of C$25.17 and a 1 year high of C$45.09.

Saputo (TSE:SAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported C$0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$4.89 billion during the quarter. Saputo had a net margin of 3.39% and a return on equity of 9.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Saputo will post 1.7735369 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saputo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. Saputo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Saputo news, insider Patrick Turcotte sold 2,071 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$42.18, for a total transaction of C$87,354.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 8,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$351,612.48. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,659 shares of company stock worth $112,169. 40.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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. Saputo also competes in food service (30% of revenue) and industrials (20% of revenue), which houses its ingredients business.