Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) Receives Average Rating of "Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Six analysts give Maple Leaf Foods a consensus Buy rating (five Buy, one Strong Buy) with an average 12‑month price target of C$34.57.
• Shares opened at C$29.94 with a market cap of C$3.73B and a low P/E of 7.04; the company reported C$0.32 EPS for the quarter, a 11.8% net margin, and sell‑side analysts forecast ~C$1.43 EPS for the year.
• Maple Leaf raised its quarterly dividend to C$0.21 (annualized C$0.84), representing a 2.8% yield and a payout ratio of about 21.4%.

Shares of Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Buy" from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$34.57.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MFI shares. Scotiabank raised shares of Maple Leaf Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$32.00 to C$35.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, National Bank Financial increased their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$33.00 to C$34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th.

Maple Leaf Foods Price Performance

Maple Leaf Foods stock opened at C$29.94 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of C$3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.04, a PEG ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.47. The firm's fifty day moving average is C$28.15 and its 200 day moving average is C$27.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 93.30. Maple Leaf Foods has a 52-week low of C$22.57 and a 52-week high of C$36.35.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported C$0.32 earnings per share for the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 35.43%. The business had revenue of C$991.24 million for the quarter. Sell-side analysts forecast that Maple Leaf Foods will post 1.4334187 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Maple Leaf Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Maple Leaf Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Maple Leaf Foods's payout ratio is currently 21.41%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.