Saputo (TSE:SAP) Shares Pass Above 200-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$39.10 and traded as high as C$43.75. Saputo shares last traded at C$43.46, with a volume of 1,064,786 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SAP shares. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Saputo from C$47.00 to C$49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Saputo from C$47.00 to C$50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Desjardins upped their price objective on Saputo from C$45.00 to C$47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. National Bank Financial increased their target price on shares of Saputo from C$45.00 to C$46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on Saputo from C$51.00 to C$52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Saputo presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$46.25.

Saputo Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of C$17.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.86, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.13. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is C$42.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$39.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 59.15, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Saputo (TSE:SAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported C$0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Saputo had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 3.39%.The firm had revenue of C$4.89 billion during the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that Saputo Inc. will post 1.7735369 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Saputo Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Saputo’s dividend payout ratio is 50.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Patrick Turcotte sold 2,071 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$42.18, for a total transaction of C$87,354.78. Following the transaction, the insider owned 8,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$351,612.48. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,659 shares of company stock worth $112,169. 40.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Saputo

Saputo is a global dairy processor domiciled in Canada (28% of fiscal 2022 sales) with operations in the United States (43%), the U.K. (6%), and other international markets (23%). It sells cheese, cream, fluid milk, and other dairy products. In the retail segment (50% of revenue), its mix of brands include Saputo, Armstrong, Cheer, Cathedral City, and Frylight. Saputo also competes in food service (30% of revenue) and industrials (20% of revenue), which houses its ingredients business.