Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) Stock Price

Key Points

• Maple Leaf Foods' price target has been increased by the Royal Bank of Canada from C$35.00 to C$38.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.39% from the stock's previous close.
• Other brokerages, including TD Securities and CIBC, have also raised their target prices, with TD Securities setting it at C$41.00.
• The company's stock recently traded up 3.9%, reaching C$33.22, and it currently maintains an average rating of "Buy" with a consensus target price of C$37.36.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI - Free Report) had its price target boosted by Royal Bank Of Canada from C$35.00 to C$38.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

MFI has been the subject of several other reports. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$38.00 to C$41.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. CIBC increased their price target on Maple Leaf Foods from C$32.00 to C$38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Stifel Canada upgraded Maple Leaf Foods to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of C$37.36.

Maple Leaf Foods Price Performance

Shares of TSE:MFI traded up C$0.23 on Friday, hitting C$33.60. The stock had a trading volume of 41,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 208,350. Maple Leaf Foods has a twelve month low of C$19.61 and a twelve month high of C$33.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 130.19, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm's 50 day moving average price is C$29.08 and its 200-day moving average price is C$26.04. The company has a market capitalization of C$4.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 124.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.47.

Maple Leaf Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 6th. Maple Leaf Foods's dividend payout ratio is presently 324.76%.

Insider Activity at Maple Leaf Foods

In related news, Senior Officer Olajumoke Fagbemi sold 3,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$26.33, for a total value of C$94,788.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 28 shares in the company, valued at C$737.24. The trade was a 99.23% decrease in their position. Corporate insiders own 39.87% of the company's stock.

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.