Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$46.73.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities upgraded Saputo to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Ventum Capital increased their target price on Saputo from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Ventum Financial set a C$47.00 target price on Saputo and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. National Bank Financial reduced their target price on Saputo from C$46.00 to C$44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, TD reduced their target price on Saputo from C$52.00 to C$51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 8th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Martin Gagnon sold 12,926 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.99, for a total transaction of C$542,762.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 31,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,316,890.38. This trade represents a 29.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Leanne Cutts sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was 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 represents a 29.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders sold 121,453 shares of company stock worth $5,082,072 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 40.45% of the company’s stock.

Saputo Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of SAP opened at C$40.61 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is C$40.84 and its 200 day moving average price is C$41.56. The stock has a market capitalization of C$16.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.06. Saputo has a 1-year low of C$26.50 and a 1-year high of C$45.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.08.

Saputo (TSE:SAP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The company reported C$0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$3.31 billion during the quarter. Saputo had a return on equity of 9.98% and a net margin of 3.65%. Analysts expect that Saputo will post 1.7735369 earnings per share for the current year.

Saputo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 25th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Saputo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.47%.

Saputo Company Profile

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.