Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at TD Securities

TD Securities upgraded shares of Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on MFI. Desjardins set a C$39.00 target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Scotiabank raised Maple Leaf Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Scotia increased their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$32.00 to C$36.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. National Bank Financial increased their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$37.00 to C$38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nine have issued a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$36.33.

Maple Leaf Foods Stock Down 4.2%

TSE:MFI opened at C$30.23 on Monday. Maple Leaf Foods has a fifty-two week low of C$23.35 and a fifty-two week high of C$36.35. The stock has a market capitalization of C$3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.18, a P/E/G ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 91.78, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is C$29.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$27.93.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$962.85 million for the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a net margin of 12.44% and a return on equity of 36.56%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Maple Leaf Foods will post 1.4334187 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Maple Leaf Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. Maple Leaf Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Maple Leaf Foods news, insider Adam John Grogan sold 32,063 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider owned 41,277 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,212,305.49. The trade was a 43.72% decrease in their position. Also, Director Jonathan Wallace Ferguson Mccain purchased 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$27.92 per share, for a total transaction of C$209,400.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 148,000 shares in the company, valued at C$4,132,160. This represents a 5.34% increase in their position. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 12,500 shares of company stock worth $350,102 and sold 142,699 shares worth $4,176,580. Company 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.