Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) Reaches New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Shares of Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$28.69 and last traded at C$28.46, with a volume of 124038 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$28.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$34.00 to C$38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$29.00 to C$30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$30.00 to C$32.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank raised Maple Leaf Foods to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Stifel Canada upgraded Maple Leaf Foods to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of C$31.80.

Maple Leaf Foods Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 130.19. The company has a market cap of C$3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 105.03, a P/E/G ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.47. The business's fifty day moving average is C$26.53 and its 200-day moving average is C$23.96.

Maple Leaf Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Maple Leaf Foods's payout ratio is 324.76%.

Insider Transactions at Maple Leaf Foods

In other news, Senior Officer Olajumoke Fagbemi sold 3,600 shares of Maple Leaf Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$26.33, for a total transaction of C$94,788.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$737.24. The trade was a 99.23% decrease in their position. 39.87% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.