Saputo (TSE:SAP) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Saputo shares moved above their 200-day moving average, trading as high as C$42.06 before last changing hands at C$41.45. The move came on heavy volume of more than 1.0 million shares.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of C$46.73. Recent updates were mixed, including TD trimming its target to C$51 while TD Securities upgraded the stock to strong-buy.
• The company recently posted quarterly EPS of C$0.41 on revenue of C$3.31 billion and paid a quarterly dividend of C$0.20 per share, equal to a 1.9% annualized yield.

Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP - Get Free Report) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$41.67 and traded as high as C$42.06. Saputo shares last traded at C$41.45, with a volume of 1,042,892 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SAP shares. TD decreased their target price on Saputo from C$52.00 to C$51.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. National Bank Financial dropped their target price on Saputo from C$46.00 to C$44.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. TD Securities raised Saputo to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Ventum Financial set a C$47.00 price target on Saputo and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Ventum Capital upped their price target on Saputo from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of C$46.73.

Saputo Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of C$16.60 billion, a PE ratio of 25.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.08. The company's 50 day moving average is C$41.42 and its 200-day moving average is C$41.67.

Saputo (TSE:SAP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 4th. The company reported C$0.41 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$3.31 billion during the quarter. Saputo had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 9.98%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Saputo Inc. will post 1.7735369 earnings per share for the current year.

Saputo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 25th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. Saputo's payout ratio is presently 48.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Saputo news, Director Steven Michael Douglas sold 19,777 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.90, for a total transaction of C$828,656.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,917 shares in the company, valued at C$541,222.30. This trade represents a 60.49% decrease in their position. Also, insider Leanne Cutts sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$41.73, for a total value of C$417,300.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 23,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$992,756.70. This trade represents a 29.59% decrease in their position. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 155,766 shares of company stock worth $6,525,571. 40.45% of the stock is owned by 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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