Desjardins Reiterates C$39.00 Price Target for Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI)

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) has been assigned a C$39.00 price target by research analysts at Desjardins in a research report issued on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Desjardins’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 28.16% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MFI. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Maple Leaf Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. National Bank Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Ventum Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$37.00 to C$39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Scotia boosted their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$32.00 to C$36.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$36.33.

Maple Leaf Foods Trading Up 0.6%

TSE:MFI traded up C$0.17 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching C$30.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 161,646 shares, compared to its average volume of 298,325. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of C$29.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$27.40. Maple Leaf Foods has a 1 year low of C$23.35 and a 1 year high of C$36.35. The firm has a market capitalization of C$3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.23, a PEG ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.54. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 36.56%. The firm had revenue of C$962.85 million for the quarter. Research analysts expect that Maple Leaf Foods will post 1.4334187 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Maple Leaf Foods

In related news, Director Curtis Eugene Frank sold 96,191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 101,469 shares in the company, valued at C$2,967,968.25. The trade was a 48.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Adam John Grogan sold 32,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$29.37, for a total transaction of C$941,690.31. Following the transaction, the insider owned 41,277 shares in the company, valued at C$1,212,305.49. This represents a 43.72% decrease in their position. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 12,500 shares of company stock valued at $350,102 and have sold 142,699 shares valued at $4,176,580. Corporate 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.