Insider Selling: Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) Director Sells C$2,813,586.75 in Stock

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI) Director Curtis Eugene Frank sold 96,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$29.25, for a total value of C$2,813,586.75. Following the sale, the director directly owned 101,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$2,967,968.25. This represents a 48.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock.

Maple Leaf Foods Stock Up 0.6%

MFI opened at C$29.84 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of C$29.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$27.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 91.78. The company has a market cap of C$3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 7.09, a P/E/G ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.54. Maple Leaf Foods Inc. has a 52 week low of C$23.35 and a 52 week high of C$36.35.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.34 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$962.85 million during the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a return on equity of 36.56% and a net margin of 12.44%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Maple Leaf Foods Inc. will post 1.4334187 EPS for the current year.

Maple Leaf Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. This is a positive change from Maple Leaf Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Maple Leaf Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MFI shares. Desjardins set a C$39.00 target price on Maple Leaf Foods and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. National Bank Financial boosted their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Maple Leaf Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$33.00 to C$34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and ten have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of C$36.33.

About Maple Leaf Foods

Maple Leaf Foods Inc is a consumer-packaged meats company. It produces prepared meats and meals, fresh pork, and poultry and turkey products. The company also has agribusiness operations. These operations supply livestock to the meat products business operations. Its main markets are Canada, the United States, Japan, and China. The key brands are Maple Leaf and Schneiders, Maple Leaf Prime Naturally, Shopsy, Mitchell’s Gourmet Food, Larse, Parm, and Hygrade.