Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) Receives C$46.73 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$46.73.

SAP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD dropped their target price on Saputo from C$52.00 to C$51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 8th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Saputo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Ventum Financial set a C$47.00 price target on Saputo and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Ventum Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Saputo from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, National Bank Financial cut their target price on Saputo from C$46.00 to C$44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th.

Saputo Stock Up 0.4%

TSE SAP opened at C$41.44 on Friday. Saputo has a one year low of C$28.45 and a one year high of C$45.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.08, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of C$41.57 and a 200-day moving average price of C$41.70. The company has a market capitalization of C$16.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.14.

Saputo (TSE:SAP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The company reported C$0.41 earnings per share for the quarter. Saputo had a net margin of 3.65% and a return on equity of 9.98%. The firm had revenue of C$3.31 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that Saputo will post 1.7735369 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saputo Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 25th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. Saputo’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.47%.

Insider Activity at Saputo

In related news, insider Martin Gagnon sold 26,806 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$41.78, for a total value of C$1,119,954.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 31,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$1,310,304.36. This trade represents a 46.08% decrease in their position. Also, Director Steven Michael Douglas sold 19,777 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.90, for a total transaction of C$828,656.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$541,222.30. This represents a 60.49% decrease in their position. In the last three months, insiders have sold 155,766 shares of company stock worth $6,525,571. 40.45% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Saputo Company Profile

Saputo, one of the top ten dairy processors in the world, produces, markets, and distributes a wide array of dairy products of the utmost quality, including cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream products, cultured products, and dairy ingredients. Saputo is a leading cheese manufacturer and fluid milk and cream processor in Canada and a leading dairy processor in Australia. In the USA, Saputo ranks among the top three cheese producers and is one of the top producers of extended shelf-life and cultured dairy products.