Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) Shares Cross Below 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSE:MFI)’s share price crossed below its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$29.27 and traded as low as C$25.17. Maple Leaf Foods shares last traded at C$25.80, with a volume of 699,415 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a C$33.00 target price on Maple Leaf Foods and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 27th. National Bankshares decreased their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$39.00 to C$36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$33.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$35.00 to C$32.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Securities lowered their price target on shares of Maple Leaf Foods from C$43.00 to C$42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Maple Leaf Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of C$35.93.

Maple Leaf Foods Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is C$24.92 and its 200 day moving average price is C$29.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 130.19. The company has a market capitalization of C$3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.07 and a beta of 0.50.

Maple Leaf Foods (TSE:MFI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported C$0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$1.01 billion for the quarter. Maple Leaf Foods had a net margin of 0.70% and a return on equity of 2.19%. Analysts anticipate that Maple Leaf Foods Inc. will post 1.4334187 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Maple Leaf Foods Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Maple Leaf Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.02%.

Maple Leaf Foods Company Profile

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.