Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) shares passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$28.57 and traded as high as C$29.45. Maple Leaf Foods shares last traded at C$29.33, with a volume of 208,250 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MFI has been the topic of several research reports. Ventum Financial set a C$37.00 price target on Maple Leaf Foods and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Ventum Capital raised their price objective on 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. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Maple Leaf Foods from C$33.00 to C$34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Desjardins set a C$39.00 price target on Maple Leaf Foods and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, TD Securities raised Maple Leaf Foods to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nine have issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$36.33.

Maple Leaf Foods Trading Down 0.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 91.78, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average is C$29.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$28.57. The company has a market cap of C$3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.95, a P/E/G ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.34.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.34 EPS 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, equities research analysts predict that Maple Leaf Foods Inc. will post 1.4334187 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Maple Leaf Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Maple Leaf Foods’s dividend payout ratio is 20.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Curtis Eugene Frank sold 96,191 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the director owned 101,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$2,967,968.25. This represents a 48.66% decrease in their position. Also, insider Randall Huffman sold 5,075 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$29.45, for a total transaction of C$149,458.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 89,044 shares in the company, valued at C$2,622,345.80. This trade represents a 5.39% decrease in their position. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 12,500 shares of company stock valued at $350,102 and have sold 142,699 shares valued at $4,176,580. Insiders own 39.87% of the company’s stock.

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.