Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) Stock Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Key Points

• Maple Leaf Foods shares moved above their 200-day moving average, trading as high as C$29.45 and last changing hands at C$29.33, a sign of improving short-term momentum.
• Wall Street sentiment remains positive, with two Strong Buy and nine Buy ratings and a consensus target price of C$36.33, while several analysts recently raised their price targets.
• The company recently posted C$0.34 EPS on C$962.85 million in revenue and also paid a quarterly dividend of C$0.21 per share, implying a 2.9% annualized yield.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$28.57 and traded as high as C$29.45. Maple Leaf Foods shares last traded at C$29.33, with a volume of 208,250 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MFI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada increased 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, May 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$37.00 to C$38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Desjardins set a C$39.00 target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a C$36.00 price target on shares of Maple Leaf Foods and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Ventum Financial set a C$37.00 price target on shares of Maple Leaf Foods and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nine have issued a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of C$36.33.

Maple Leaf Foods Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of C$3.65 billion, a PE ratio of 6.97, a PEG ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of C$29.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$28.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 91.78, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$962.85 million for the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a return on equity of 36.56% and a net margin of 12.44%. Equities analysts predict that Maple Leaf Foods Inc. will post 1.4334187 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Maple Leaf Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.21 dividend. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Maple Leaf Foods's payout ratio is currently 20.90%.

Insider Activity at Maple Leaf Foods

In other Maple Leaf Foods news, insider Adam John Grogan sold 32,063 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$29.37, for a total transaction of C$941,690.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,277 shares in the company, valued at C$1,212,305.49. This trade represents a 43.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Randall Huffman sold 5,075 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$29.45, for a total transaction of C$149,458.75. Following the transaction, the insider owned 89,044 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$2,622,345.80. This trade represents a 5.39% decrease in their position. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 12,500 shares of company stock valued at $350,102 and have sold 142,699 shares valued at $4,176,580. Company 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. 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.