Cascades (TSE:CAS) Reaches New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Cascades Inc. (TSE:CAS)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday after Scotiabank lowered their price target on the stock from C$13.50 to C$12.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Cascades traded as low as C$9.10 and last traded at C$9.20, with a volume of 37316 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$9.30.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Cascades from C$12.00 to C$11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. National Bankshares lowered their target price on Cascades from C$13.50 to C$11.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. CIBC reduced their price target on Cascades from C$14.00 to C$12.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Desjardins dropped their price objective on Cascades from C$14.50 to C$13.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Cascades from C$14.00 to C$11.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cascades has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$11.67.

Cascades Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is C$10.21 and its 200 day moving average price is C$11.85. The stock has a market capitalization of C$924.52 million, a PE ratio of -12.08, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 108.76, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.33.

Cascades (TSE:CAS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported C$0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.30 by C($0.25). The company had revenue of C$1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$1.22 billion. Cascades had a negative return on equity of 2.86% and a negative net margin of 1.64%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cascades Inc. will post 0.8298611 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cascades Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a 1 dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 21st. This is a positive change from Cascades’s previous 1 dividend of $0.12. This represents a dividend yield of 4.66%. Cascades’s payout ratio is currently -63.16%.

About Cascades

Cascades Inc produces, converts, and markets packaging and tissue products in Canada and the United States. The company operates through three segments: Containerboard, Specialty Products, and Tissue Papers. It offers various packaging solutions and tissue products comprised of recycled fibers; tissue papers, comprising parent rolls of virgin and recycled fibres; specialty products, including uncoated recycled boxboards; and containerboards.