Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) Stock

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target on Maple Leaf Foods to C$34 and kept an "outperform" rating, implying roughly a 14.75% upside from the prior close.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded targets and ratings (Scotiabank to "strong-buy"; Ventum C$37, Stifel C$36, National Bank C$35), leaving a MarketBeat consensus "Buy" with a mean target of C$36.09.
• Shares traded at C$29.63 on Friday (down C$1.33); fundamentals include a P/E of 6.97, quarterly EPS of C$0.34, net margin 11.76% and ROE 35.43%, though leverage is notable with a debt-to-equity of 93.3%.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by Royal Bank Of Canada from C$33.00 to C$34.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price suggests a potential upside of 14.75% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Maple Leaf Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Ventum Financial set a C$37.00 price target on shares of Maple Leaf Foods and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, National Bank Financial raised their price target on Maple Leaf Foods from C$34.00 to C$35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nine have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of C$36.09.

Maple Leaf Foods Price Performance

TSE:MFI traded down C$1.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting C$29.63. The stock had a trading volume of 238,476 shares, compared to its average volume of 313,395. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$29.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$27.05. The firm has a market capitalization of C$3.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.97, a P/E/G 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 has a one year low of C$23.35 and a one year high of C$36.35.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.34 earnings per share for the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of C$962.85 million for the quarter. Research analysts forecast that Maple Leaf Foods will post 1.4334187 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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