Saputo (TSE:SAP) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from C$37.00 to C$41.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Saputo traded as high as C$42.30 and last traded at C$41.14, with a volume of 476809 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$41.74.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Saputo from C$38.00 to C$40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. TD Securities raised their price objective on Saputo from C$44.00 to C$49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. CIBC upped their target price on Saputo from C$36.00 to C$40.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. National Bankshares raised their price target on Saputo from C$38.00 to C$45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Saputo from C$36.00 to C$37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$41.75.

Saputo Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of C$17.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -209.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 51.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$40.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$35.37.

Saputo (TSE:SAP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported C$0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$4.72 billion for the quarter. Saputo had a negative net margin of 0.84% and a negative return on equity of 2.20%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Saputo Inc. will post 1.7735369 EPS for the current year.

Saputo Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Saputo’s dividend payout ratio is -385.00%.

About Saputo

Saputo is a global dairy processor domiciled in Canada (28% of fiscal 2022 sales) with operations in the United States (43%), the U.K. (6%), and other international markets (23%). It sells cheese, cream, fluid milk, and other dairy products. In the retail segment (50% of revenue), its mix of brands include Saputo, Armstrong, Cheer, Cathedral City, and Frylight. Saputo also competes in food service (30% of revenue) and industrials (20% of revenue), which houses its ingredients business.