Cascades (TSE:CAS) Hits New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Cascades Inc. (TSE:CAS - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday after National Bankshares lowered their price target on the stock from C$14.00 to C$11.00. National Bankshares currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Cascades traded as low as C$8.80 and last traded at C$8.82, with a volume of 30557 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$8.90.

CAS has been the topic of a number of other research reports. CIBC cut their price objective on shares of Cascades from C$13.00 to C$10.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Scotiabank raised Cascades from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from C$12.00 to C$15.50 in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Securities dropped their price objective on Cascades from C$16.00 to C$12.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Cascades from C$13.00 to C$11.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cascades presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$11.90.

Insider Activity at Cascades

In other Cascades news, Senior Officer Luc Langevin sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$9.82, for a total transaction of C$88,380.00. Corporate insiders own 23.78% of the company's stock.

Cascades Trading Down 1.9 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of C$9.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$11.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 121.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of C$887.09 million, a P/E ratio of -11.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.15.

Cascades Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Cascades's dividend payout ratio is -64.73%.

About Cascades

Cascades Inc produces, converts, and markets packaging and tissue products in Canada and the United States. The company operates through three segments: Containerboard, Specialty Products, and Tissue Papers. It offers various packaging solutions and tissue products comprised of recycled fibers; tissue papers, comprising parent rolls of virgin and recycled fibres; specialty products, including uncoated recycled boxboards; and containerboards.