Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$36.33.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MFI shares. Ventum Financial reduced their price target on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$39.00 to C$37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Scotia raised their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$32.00 to C$36.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$33.00 to C$34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$39.00 to C$37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$36.00 to C$33.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday.

Maple Leaf Foods Price Performance

Shares of MFI opened at C$26.81 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 97.47, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of C$29.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$28.99. Maple Leaf Foods has a 52-week low of C$23.35 and a 52-week high of C$36.35. The firm has a market capitalization of C$3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 6.59, a P/E/G ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.32.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported C$0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$1.02 billion during the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a return on equity of 36.83% and a net margin of 13.08%. Sell-side analysts predict that Maple Leaf Foods will post 1.4334187 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Maple Leaf Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Maple Leaf Foods’s payout ratio is 20.88%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Curtis Eugene Frank sold 96,191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately C$2,967,968.25. This trade represents a 48.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Adam John Grogan sold 32,063 shares of Maple Leaf Foods 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 value of C$941,690.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,277 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,212,305.49. This represents a 43.72% decrease in their position. Insiders have sold a total of 137,829 shares of company stock worth $4,036,811 over the last three months. Corporate 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.