Saputo (TSE:SAP) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Saputo (TSE:SAP) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported C$0.01 EPS for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of C$4.42 billion for the quarter. Saputo had a return on equity of 9.98% and a net margin of 3.65%.

Saputo Stock Down 1.0%

Saputo stock traded down C$0.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting C$38.73. 657,356 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 968,593. Saputo has a 1 year low of C$29.14 and a 1 year high of C$45.09. The firm has a market cap of C$15.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.08, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$41.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$41.68.

Saputo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 25th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. Saputo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. National Bank Financial decreased their target price on Saputo from C$46.00 to C$44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Saputo from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. TD decreased their price objective on shares of Saputo from C$52.00 to C$51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Ventum Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Saputo from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Ventum Financial set a C$47.00 price objective on shares of Saputo and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$46.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven Michael Douglas sold 19,777 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.90, for a total transaction of C$828,656.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 12,917 shares in the company, valued at C$541,222.30. This trade represents a 60.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director Maxime Therrien sold 19,601 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$42.06, for a total value of C$824,418.06. Following the sale, the director owned 64,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$2,700,798.78. This represents a 23.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. In the last quarter, insiders sold 155,766 shares of company stock valued at $6,525,571. Corporate insiders own 40.45% of the company’s stock.

Saputo Company Profile

Saputo, one of the top ten dairy processors in the world, produces, markets, and distributes a wide array of dairy products of the utmost quality, including cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream products, cultured products, and dairy ingredients. Saputo is a leading cheese manufacturer and fluid milk and cream processor in Canada and a leading dairy processor in Australia. In the USA, Saputo ranks among the top three cheese producers and is one of the top producers of extended shelf-life and cultured dairy products.