Saputo (TSE:SAP) Hits New 1-Year High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Saputo shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as C$44.10 (last C$43.97), while several analysts raised price targets leaving a MarketBeat consensus of Moderate Buy with a C$46.25 target.
• Solid recent results and dividend—the company reported C$0.57 EPS on C$4.89B revenue, has a market cap of ~C$17.9B and pays a quarterly dividend of C$0.20 (annualized C$0.80, yield 1.8%, payout ratio 50%).
• Notable insider activity—corporate insiders own 40.45% of the company but have sold 2,659 shares in the last 90 days, including a 2,071-share sale by Patrick Turcotte on Feb. 18.

Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$44.10 and last traded at C$43.97, with a volume of 206186 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$43.87.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Saputo from C$47.00 to C$49.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Saputo from C$41.00 to C$42.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Saputo from C$47.00 to C$50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Sunday, February 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their target price on Saputo from C$40.00 to C$44.00 in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, National Bank Financial lifted their target price on shares of Saputo from C$45.00 to C$46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of C$46.25.

Saputo Stock Up 0.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 59.15, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$42.61 and a 200 day moving average price of C$39.37. The firm has a market capitalization of C$17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.31, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.10.

Saputo (TSE:SAP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported C$0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$4.89 billion during the quarter. Saputo had a net margin of 3.39% and a return on equity of 9.50%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Saputo Inc. will post 1.7735369 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saputo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Saputo's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Saputo

In related news, insider Patrick Turcotte sold 2,071 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$42.18, for a total value of C$87,354.78. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,336 shares in the company, valued at C$351,612.48. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,659 shares of company stock valued at $112,169. Corporate insiders own 40.45% of the company's stock.

Saputo Company Profile

Saputo is a global dairy processor domiciled in Canada (28% of fiscal 2022 sales) with operations in the United States (43%), the U.K. (6%), and other international markets (23%). It sells cheese, cream, fluid milk, and other dairy products. In the retail segment (50% of revenue), its mix of brands include Saputo, Armstrong, Cheer, Cathedral City, and Frylight. Saputo also competes in food service (30% of revenue) and industrials (20% of revenue), which houses its ingredients business.

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