Saputo (TSE:SAP) Stock Price Crosses Below 200 Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Saputo shares fell below their 200-day moving average of C$41.33, reaching C$39.50 before closing at C$39.85.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of C$47.18, despite one downgrade to “Hold.”
• Saputo increased its quarterly dividend to C$0.21 per share, representing an annualized dividend of C$0.84 and a 2.1% yield.

Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$41.33 and traded as low as C$39.50. Saputo shares last traded at C$39.85, with a volume of 436,001 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on SAP shares. Ventum Financial set a C$49.00 price objective on Saputo and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Ventum Capital lifted their target price on shares of Saputo from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. TD upped their target price on shares of Saputo from C$51.00 to C$53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Saputo from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded shares of Saputo to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Saputo has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of C$47.18.

Saputo Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 41.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$40.73 and a 200 day moving average price of C$41.33. The firm has a market cap of C$15.82 billion, a PE ratio of 32.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.21.

Saputo (TSE:SAP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$4.42 billion during the quarter. Saputo had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 7.45%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Saputo Inc. will post 1.7735369 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saputo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from Saputo's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Saputo's payout ratio is 64.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Maxime Therrien sold 14,712 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$42.08, for a total value of C$619,080.96. Following the transaction, the director owned 64,213 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$2,702,083.04. This represents a 18.64% decrease in their position. 40.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Saputo

Saputo, one of the top ten dairy processors in the world, produces, markets, and distributes a wide array of dairy products of the utmost quality, including cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream products, cultured products, and dairy ingredients. Saputo is a leading cheese manufacturer and fluid milk and cream processor in Canada and a leading dairy processor in Australia. In the USA, Saputo ranks among the top three cheese producers and is one of the top producers of extended shelf-life and cultured dairy products.

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