Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) have earned an average rating of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$35.44.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$36.50 to C$40.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$33.00 target price on Maple Leaf Foods and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 27th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$33.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$43.00 to C$42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, CIBC decreased their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$36.00 to C$35.00 in a report on Thursday, November 6th.

Maple Leaf Foods Stock Performance

Shares of Maple Leaf Foods stock opened at C$25.08 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 130.19. Maple Leaf Foods has a 52 week low of C$19.61 and a 52 week high of C$36.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is C$27.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$29.78. The firm has a market capitalization of C$3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48, a P/E/G ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.79.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported C$0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$1.01 billion during the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a net margin of 0.70% and a return on equity of 2.19%. Research analysts forecast that Maple Leaf Foods will post 1.4334187 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Maple Leaf Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Maple Leaf Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.02%.

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.