Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$36.33.

Several analysts have commented on MFI shares. Ventum Capital lifted their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$37.00 to C$39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Ventum Financial set a C$37.00 target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Desjardins set a C$39.00 target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Activity at Maple Leaf Foods

In related news, insider Andreas Liris acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$28.36 per share, with a total value of C$70,900.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 15,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$439,580. This represents a 19.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Curtis Eugene Frank sold 96,191 shares of the business’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 sale, the director directly owned 101,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$2,967,968.25. This represents a 48.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Over the last three months, insiders bought 12,500 shares of company stock worth $350,102 and sold 142,699 shares worth $4,176,580. 39.87% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Maple Leaf Foods Stock Down 0.5%

MFI stock opened at C$29.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$3.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.08, 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 has a one year low of C$23.35 and a one year high of C$36.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$29.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$27.31.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.34 EPS for the quarter. The firm 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, sell-side analysts expect that Maple Leaf Foods will post 1.4334187 EPS for the current year.

Maple Leaf Foods Dividend Announcement

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

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.