Saputo (TSE:SAP) Price Target Lowered to C$38.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Saputo (TSE:SAP) had its target price trimmed by Royal Bank of Canada from C$39.00 to C$38.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. National Bankshares lowered their target price on shares of Saputo from C$36.00 to C$35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. CIBC dropped their target price on Saputo from C$37.00 to C$35.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded Saputo from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from C$35.00 to C$30.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Saputo presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$34.64.

Saputo Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of TSE SAP opened at C$26.86 on Tuesday. Saputo has a 1-year low of C$25.28 and a 1-year high of C$32.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 53.17, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is C$28.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$29.01. The stock has a market capitalization of C$11.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.63, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.32.

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

Saputo Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 20th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This is an increase from Saputo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Saputo’s payout ratio is currently 120.63%.

Insider Activity at Saputo

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