Cascades (TSE:CAS) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Cascades Inc. (TSE:CAS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$13.38 and last traded at C$13.38, with a volume of 195077 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$13.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CAS shares. Desjardins lifted their price target on Cascades from C$10.50 to C$13.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Cascades from C$14.00 to C$16.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Cascades from C$12.00 to C$13.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Cascades from C$12.00 to C$14.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Cascades from C$12.00 to C$13.50 in a report on Monday, November 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$13.50.

Cascades Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of C$1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.80, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 121.37. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is C$12.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$10.68.

Cascades (TSE:CAS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported C$0.38 EPS for the quarter. Cascades had a negative return on equity of 4.35% and a negative net margin of 1.62%.The firm had revenue of C$1.24 billion during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cascades Inc. will post 1.2959309 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cascades Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 20th. Cascades’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 240.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Cascades news, insider J�R�Me Porlier sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$12.49, for a total value of C$49,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 24,467 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$305,592.83. This trade represents a 14.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Company insiders own 23.78% of the company’s stock.

About Cascades

Cascades Inc, along with its subsidiaries, produces, converts and markets packaging and tissue products composed mainly of recycled fibres. The company is organized into four main business segments: Containerboard, Boxboard Europe, Specialty Products (which constitutes packaging products), and Tissue Papers. The business activity of the company functions in Canada, the United States, Italy, and other countries. Its customer base includes food processing companies, the maintenance industry, accommodations, and housing industry, micro-businesses, and boutiques.