Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Scotia Analyst Says

Key Points

• Scotiabank raised its price target on Maple Leaf Foods to C$36.00 (from C$32.00) with a "sector outperform" rating, implying about a 21.5% upside, and the stock's consensus analyst rating is a Buy with a consensus target of C$36.09.
• Despite the upgrades, the stock traded down 4.3% to C$29.63; the company has a market cap of C$3.69B, a low PE of 6.97, reported quarterly EPS of C$0.34 on C$962.85M revenue, and strong profitability metrics (ROE 35.43%, net margin 11.76%).

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by Scotia from C$32.00 to C$36.00 in a research report issued on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a "sector outperform" rating on the stock. Scotia's price target points to a potential upside of 21.50% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Ventum Financial set a C$37.00 price objective on Maple Leaf Foods and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$33.00 to C$34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank raised shares of Maple Leaf Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, National Bank Financial upped their target price on Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$37.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nine have assigned a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of C$36.09.

Maple Leaf Foods Stock Down 4.3%

MFI traded down C$1.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting C$29.63. 238,476 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 313,395. Maple Leaf Foods has a one year low of C$23.35 and a one year high of C$36.35. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is C$29.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$27.05. The company has a market cap of C$3.69 billion, a PE ratio of 6.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 93.30, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.34 EPS for the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a return on equity of 35.43% and a net margin of 11.76%.The company had revenue of C$962.85 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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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