Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) Director Sells C$2,813,586.75 in Stock

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) Director Curtis Eugene Frank sold 96,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$29.25, for a total transaction of C$2,813,586.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 101,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$2,967,968.25. This trade represents a 48.66% decrease in their position.

Maple Leaf Foods Stock Down 1.0%

Maple Leaf Foods stock traded down C$0.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching C$29.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 178,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 304,238. The company has a market capitalization of C$3.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.54. Maple Leaf Foods Inc. has a 12 month low of C$23.35 and a 12 month high of C$36.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is C$29.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$27.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 91.78, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.34 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$962.85 million during the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 36.56%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Maple Leaf Foods Inc. will post 1.4334187 earnings per share for the current year.

Maple Leaf Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Maple Leaf Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Maple Leaf Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 20.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MFI. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$33.00 to C$34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. National Bank Financial increased their price target on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Ventum Capital increased their price target on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$37.00 to C$39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Ventum Financial set a C$37.00 price target on shares of Maple Leaf Foods and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$37.00 to C$38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nine have issued a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of C$36.09.

Maple Leaf Foods Company Profile

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.