Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$34.57.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. National Bank Financial upped their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$33.00 to C$34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$32.00 to C$35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Maple Leaf Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th.

Maple Leaf Foods Price Performance

MFI stock opened at C$31.18 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 93.30. Maple Leaf Foods has a one year low of C$23.18 and a one year high of C$36.35. The firm has a market capitalization of C$3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 7.34, a P/E/G ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$28.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$27.20.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported C$0.32 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$991.24 million for the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a return on equity of 35.43% and a net margin of 11.76%. On average, analysts forecast that Maple Leaf Foods will post 1.4334187 earnings per share for the current year.

Maple Leaf Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Maple Leaf Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Maple Leaf Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.41%.

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.