Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) Raised to Strong-Buy at Scotiabank

Key Points

• Scotiabank upgraded Maple Leaf Foods from a "hold" to a Strong-Buy, and other brokers have raised price targets—consensus rating is Buy with an average target of C$34.57.
• In the latest quarter Maple Leaf reported EPS of C$0.32 and revenue of C$991.24M, with a return on equity of 35.43% and net margin of 13.84%, while the stock trades around C$28.80 and has a market cap of C$3.59B.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Scotiabank from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on MFI. Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$33.00 target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 27th. National Bank Financial raised their price target on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$33.00 to C$34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$32.00 to C$35.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have issued a Buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of C$34.57.

Maple Leaf Foods Stock Performance

Shares of MFI opened at C$28.80 on Wednesday. Maple Leaf Foods has a 12 month low of C$22.57 and a 12 month high of C$36.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$26.58 and a 200-day moving average price of C$28.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 93.30. The firm has a market cap of C$3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.78, a P/E/G ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.75.

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 (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$991.24 million for the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a return on equity of 35.43% and a net margin of 13.84%. Equities research analysts predict that Maple Leaf Foods will post 1.4334187 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Maple Leaf Foods Company Profile

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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