Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) Price Target Raised to C$34.00

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) had its price target raised by National Bank Financial from C$33.00 to C$34.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities cut their price target on Maple Leaf Foods from C$43.00 to C$42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$33.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$33.00 price objective on Maple Leaf Foods and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$32.00 to C$35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce decreased their price target on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$36.00 to C$35.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$34.57.

Maple Leaf Foods Stock Up 1.4%

MFI stock opened at C$28.72 on Friday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is C$26.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$28.25. Maple Leaf Foods has a 12 month low of C$22.57 and a 12 month high of C$36.35. The firm has a market capitalization of C$3.58 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a P/E/G ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.75.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported C$0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a return on equity of 35.43% and a net margin of 13.84%.The firm had revenue of C$991.24 million during the quarter. Equities analysts expect that Maple Leaf Foods will post 1.4334187 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Maple Leaf Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.21 dividend. This is a positive change from Maple Leaf Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Maple Leaf Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.02%.

About Maple Leaf Foods

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.