Brokerages Set Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) Target Price at C$33.81

Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$33.81.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SAP. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Saputo from C$40.00 to C$36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. National Bankshares reduced their price target on Saputo from C$35.00 to C$33.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. CIBC dropped their price objective on Saputo from C$36.00 to C$35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. TD Securities decreased their target price on shares of Saputo from C$40.00 to C$36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Saputo from C$31.50 to C$32.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th.

Saputo Stock Performance

Saputo stock opened at C$25.68 on Wednesday. Saputo has a fifty-two week low of C$25.28 and a fifty-two week high of C$36.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 58.27, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of C$10.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is C$26.81 and its 200-day moving average price is C$27.15.

Saputo (TSE:SAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported C$0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.40 by C($0.02). Saputo had a return on equity of 4.76% and a net margin of 1.92%. The firm had revenue of C$4.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$4.38 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Saputo will post 1.9167852 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saputo Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Saputo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.87%.

Insider Transactions at Saputo

In other news, Director Maxime Therrien bought 4,500 shares of Saputo stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$27.68 per share, for a total transaction of C$124,560.00. In other news, Director Maxime Therrien acquired 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$27.68 per share, with a total value of C$124,560.00. Also, Senior Officer Carl Colizza bought 5,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$28.13 per share, for a total transaction of C$150,636.15. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 15,190 shares of company stock valued at $425,567. Company insiders own 42.11% of the company’s stock.

Saputo Company Profile

Saputo Inc produces, markets, and distributes dairy products in Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The company offers cheeses, including mozzarella and cheddar; specialty cheeses, such as ricotta, provolone, blue, parmesan, goat cheese, feta, romano, and havarti; fine cheeses comprising brie and camembert; and other cheeses that include brick, colby, farmer, munster, monterey jack, fresh curd, and processed cheeses.