Saputo (TSE:SAP) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as C$45.22 and last traded at C$45.08, with a volume of 608,328 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$44.46.

Trending Headlines about Saputo

These are some of the SAP headlines that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: National Bank Financial, Ventum and Scotia analysts were reported to expect Saputo’s stock to appreciate. The reports may support investor sentiment, though the headlines do not provide specific price targets or new earnings estimates. National Bank Financial coverage Ventum coverage Scotia coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Joey Saputo is putting CF Montréal up for sale after more than 30 years, and reports say the club’s future in Montréal is uncertain; relocation has not been ruled out. This concerns the family’s soccer-club ownership, not a reported change in Saputo Inc.’s dairy operations, so no direct impact on SAP is apparent. CF Montréal sale and future Sale and relocation report
• Neutral Sentiment: A separate report says Philippe Eullaffroy will not return as CF Montréal’s first-team head coach. This is a club personnel development, with no stated connection to the publicly traded dairy company. CF Montréal coaching report

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SAP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Ventum Financial set a C$49.00 target price on Saputo and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Ventum Capital set a C$49.00 price target on Saputo and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a C$45.00 price objective on Saputo and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Scotia lifted their price objective on Saputo from C$49.00 to C$51.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, TD lifted their price objective on Saputo from C$51.00 to C$53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$48.92.

Saputo Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of C$17.71 billion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 43.61. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is C$40.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$41.27.

Saputo (TSE:SAP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported C$0.55 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$4.26 billion for the quarter. Saputo had a return on equity of 8.44% and a net margin of 3.29%. Research analysts expect that Saputo Inc. will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saputo Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 25th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Saputo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Saputo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.25%.

Saputo Company Profile

Saputo, one of the top ten dairy processors in the world, produces, markets, and distributes a wide array of dairy products of the utmost quality, including cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream products, cultured products, and dairy ingredients. Saputo is a leading cheese manufacturer and fluid milk and cream processor in Canada and a leading dairy processor in Australia. In the USA, Saputo ranks among the top three cheese producers and is one of the top producers of extended shelf-life and cultured dairy products.