Ventum Financial Upgrades Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) to Strong-Buy

Key Points

• Ventum Financial upgraded Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) to a strong-buy; several other brokers have also raised ratings recently, leaving a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of C$34.71.
• Shares opened at C$29.82 with a market cap of C$3.71 billion and a low P/E of 7.02; the company reported C$0.32 EPS on C$991.24M revenue last quarter and analysts forecast roughly C$1.43 EPS for the year.
• Investor considerations: Maple Leaf carries relatively high leverage (debt-to-equity 93.3) and modest liquidity (quick ratio 0.54), while its 52-week range of C$23.35–C$36.35 highlights both downside risk and potential upside toward analyst targets.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Ventum Financial to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on MFI. Scotiabank raised Maple Leaf Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. National Bank Financial boosted their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$34.00 to C$35.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$32.00 to C$35.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of C$34.71.

Maple Leaf Foods Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of TSE:MFI opened at C$29.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of C$3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.02, a P/E/G ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 93.30, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business's 50-day moving average is C$28.90 and its 200-day moving average is C$26.97. Maple Leaf Foods has a 1 year low of C$23.35 and a 1 year high of C$36.35.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported C$0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$991.24 million for the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a return on equity of 35.43% and a net margin of 11.76%. Equities research analysts predict that Maple Leaf Foods will post 1.4334187 earnings per share for the current year.

Maple Leaf Foods Company Profile

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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