Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) has been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat 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 brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$36.33.

A number of research firms recently commented on MFI. National Bank Financial decreased their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$36.00 to C$34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a C$36.00 target price on Maple Leaf Foods and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Ventum Financial lowered their price target on Maple Leaf Foods from C$39.00 to C$37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$36.00 to C$33.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$39.00 to C$37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Andrew Gordon Macdonald bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$26.78 per share, for a total transaction of C$267,800.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 72,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$1,933,516. The trade was a 16.08% increase in their position. Corporate insiders own 39.87% of the company’s stock.

Maple Leaf Foods Price Performance

Maple Leaf Foods stock opened at C$26.30 on Friday. Maple Leaf Foods has a 12-month low of C$23.35 and a 12-month high of C$36.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 97.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$27.94 and a 200-day moving average price of C$28.99. The firm has a market capitalization of C$3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 6.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.34.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported C$0.44 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$1.02 billion for the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a net margin of 13.08% and a return on equity of 36.83%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Maple Leaf Foods will post 1.4334187 EPS for the current year.

Maple Leaf Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 29th will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Maple Leaf Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.88%.

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.