Brokerages Set Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) Target Price at C$31.80

Shares of Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$31.80.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. CIBC raised their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$30.00 to C$32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. National Bankshares boosted their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$26.00 to C$27.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank raised Maple Leaf Foods to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$34.00 to C$38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$29.00 to C$30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th.

Maple Leaf Foods Trading Up 0.3%

MFI stock opened at C$27.95 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 130.19, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of C$3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.15, a P/E/G ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.47. Maple Leaf Foods has a fifty-two week low of C$19.61 and a fifty-two week high of C$28.49. The business has a fifty day moving average price of C$26.00 and a 200 day moving average price of C$23.75.

Maple Leaf Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Maple Leaf Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 324.76%.

Insider Transactions at Maple Leaf Foods

In other news, Senior Officer Olajumoke Fagbemi sold 3,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$26.33, for a total value of C$94,788.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 28 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$737.24. This represents a 99.23% decrease in their position. 39.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.