Saputo (TSE:SAP) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$41.67 and traded as high as C$42.06. Saputo shares last traded at C$41.45, with a volume of 1,042,892 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD cut their price target on shares of Saputo from C$52.00 to C$51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 8th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Saputo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. National Bank Financial decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Ventum Capital boosted their target price on shares of Saputo from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Ventum Financial set a C$47.00 target price on shares of Saputo and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$46.73.

Saputo Trading Down 0.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average is C$41.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$41.67. The stock has a market cap of C$16.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.14.

Saputo (TSE:SAP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The company reported C$0.41 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Saputo Inc. will post 1.7735369 EPS for the current year.

Saputo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 25th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Saputo’s payout ratio is currently 48.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven Michael Douglas sold 19,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$41.90, for a total transaction of C$828,656.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 12,917 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$541,222.30. This represents a 60.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Maxime Therrien sold 19,601 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$42.06, for a total transaction of C$824,418.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 64,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,700,798.78. This trade represents a 23.39% decrease in their position. Insiders have sold 155,766 shares of company stock valued at $6,525,571 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 40.45% of the company’s stock.

About Saputo

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.