Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$34.64.

SAP has been the topic of a number of research reports. National Bankshares reduced their price objective on Saputo from C$36.00 to C$35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Saputo from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from C$35.00 to C$30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. CIBC reduced their price objective on Saputo from C$37.00 to C$35.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Saputo from C$39.00 to C$38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday.

Saputo Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of SAP opened at C$26.56 on Friday. Saputo has a 52-week low of C$25.28 and a 52-week high of C$32.15. The business’s fifty day moving average is C$28.91 and its 200-day moving average is C$29.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 53.17, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market cap of C$11.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.16, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.32.

Saputo (TSE:SAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported C$0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.37 by C$0.02. The company had revenue of C$4.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$4.44 billion. Saputo had a return on equity of 3.72% and a net margin of 1.50%. Equities analysts anticipate that Saputo will post 1.7735369 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Saputo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th were given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 10th. This is a positive change from Saputo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Saputo’s payout ratio is 120.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Saputo

In related news, Senior Officer Martin Gagnon purchased 2,000 shares of Saputo stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$29.73 per share, for a total transaction of C$59,450.00. In other Saputo news, Senior Officer Carl Colizza acquired 6,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$29.43 per share, with a total value of C$200,124.00. Also, Senior Officer Martin Gagnon acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$29.73 per share, for a total transaction of C$59,450.00. Corporate insiders own 40.45% 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.