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

Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$33.81.

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

Saputo Stock Performance

Shares of SAP stock opened at C$26.55 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of C$11.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is C$27.50 and its 200-day moving average price is C$27.42. Saputo has a one year low of C$25.57 and a one year high of C$36.70.

Saputo (TSE:SAP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported C$0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.40 by C($0.02). Saputo had a net margin of 1.92% and a return on equity of 4.76%. The firm had revenue of C$4.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$4.38 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Saputo will post 1.9145173 EPS for the current year.

Saputo Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 4th. Saputo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.87%.

Insider Transactions at Saputo

In other Saputo news, Senior Officer Gaétane Wagner purchased 3,535 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$28.27 per share, with a total value of C$99,916.78. In related news, Senior Officer Gaétane Wagner acquired 3,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$28.27 per share, for a total transaction of C$99,916.78. Also, Senior Officer Carl Colizza bought 5,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were purchased 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 acquired 15,190 shares of company stock valued at $425,567. 42.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Saputo

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.