Andreas Liris Purchases 2,500 Shares of Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) Stock

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) insider Andreas Liris bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$28.36 per share, with a total value of C$70,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$439,580. This trade represents a 19.23% increase in their ownership of the stock.

Andreas Liris also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, May 12th, Andreas Liris sold 4,870 shares of Maple Leaf Foods stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$28.70, for a total value of C$139,769.00.

Maple Leaf Foods Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of Maple Leaf Foods stock opened at C$28.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.65, a PEG ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 91.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of C$29.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$27.05. Maple Leaf Foods Inc. has a 12-month low of C$23.35 and a 12-month high of C$36.35.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$962.85 million during the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a return on equity of 36.56% and a net margin of 12.44%. Equities analysts expect that Maple Leaf Foods Inc. will post 1.4334187 earnings per share for the current year.

Maple Leaf Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Maple Leaf Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. Maple Leaf Foods’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MFI. Scotia upped their price target on Maple Leaf Foods from C$32.00 to C$36.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Ventum Financial set a C$37.00 price target on Maple Leaf Foods and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Ventum Capital upped their price target on Maple Leaf Foods from C$37.00 to C$39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank upgraded Maple Leaf Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. Finally, National Bank Financial upped their price target on Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and nine have given a Buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of C$36.09.

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.