Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of C$36.33

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is strongly positive: All 12 covering firms rate Maple Leaf Foods a Buy or Strong Buy, with an average 12-month price target of C$36.33 versus the stock’s C$25.58 opening price.
• Insider buying supports investor confidence: Director Andrew Gordon Macdonald purchased 10,000 shares for approximately C$267,800, increasing his ownership by 16.08%; insiders own 39.87% of the company.
• Maple Leaf Foods reported solid results and pays a dividend: The company posted quarterly EPS of C$0.44 on C$1.02 billion in revenue and recently paid a quarterly dividend of C$0.21 per share, equivalent to a 3.3% annualized yield.

Shares of Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Buy" from the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$36.33.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MFI shares. 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 Thursday, June 4th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a C$36.00 price target on shares of Maple Leaf Foods and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Maple Leaf Foods to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce set a C$36.00 price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods and gave the company an "outperformer" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Andrew Gordon Macdonald purchased 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$26.78 per share, for a total transaction of C$267,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 72,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$1,933,516. This trade represents a 16.08% increase in their ownership of the stock. 39.87% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Maple Leaf Foods Stock Performance

TSE MFI opened at C$25.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 97.47, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is C$27.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$28.84. The company has a market cap of C$3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 6.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.34. Maple Leaf Foods has a 1-year low of C$23.35 and a 1-year high of C$36.21.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported C$0.44 EPS for the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a return on equity of 36.83% and a net margin of 13.08%.The firm had revenue of C$1.02 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Maple Leaf Foods will post 1.4334187 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Maple Leaf Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 8th. Maple Leaf Foods's payout ratio is currently 20.88%.

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.

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