Saputo (TSE:SAP) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) hit a new 52-week high on Friday after National Bankshares raised their price target on the stock from C$38.00 to C$45.00. National Bankshares currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Saputo traded as high as C$42.30 and last traded at C$41.14, with a volume of 476809 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$41.74.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on SAP. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Saputo from C$34.00 to C$37.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Desjardins upped their price objective on Saputo from C$40.00 to C$45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. TD Securities raised their target price on Saputo from C$44.00 to C$49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Saputo from C$38.00 to C$40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Saputo from C$36.00 to C$37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of C$41.25.

Saputo Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of C$16.87 billion, a PE ratio of -205.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 51.68, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is C$40.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$35.21.

Saputo (TSE:SAP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported C$0.45 EPS for the quarter. Saputo had a negative net margin of 0.84% and a negative return on equity of 2.20%. The business had revenue of C$4.72 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Saputo Inc. will post 1.7735369 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saputo Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 2nd. Saputo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -385.00%.

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.