Jefferies Financial Group Downgrades Saputo (TSE:SAP) to Hold

Saputo (TSE:SAP) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. TD reduced their price target on Saputo from C$52.00 to C$51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Ventum Financial set a C$47.00 target price on Saputo and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. National Bank Financial cut their target price on Saputo from C$46.00 to C$44.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Ventum Capital boosted their target price on shares of Saputo from C$47.00 to C$48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of Saputo to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$46.73.

Saputo Stock Performance

Shares of SAP stock opened at C$39.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of C$16.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.51, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.14. Saputo has a 52-week low of C$28.45 and a 52-week high of C$45.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.08. The company’s 50 day moving average is C$41.58 and its 200 day moving average is C$41.69.

Saputo (TSE:SAP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 4th. The company reported C$0.41 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$3.31 billion during the quarter. Saputo had a return on equity of 9.98% and a net margin of 3.65%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Saputo will post 1.7735369 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Maxime Therrien sold 19,601 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$42.06, for a total value of C$824,418.06. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 64,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$2,700,798.78. This trade represents a 23.39% decrease in their position. Also, Director Steven Michael Douglas bought 3,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$41.01 per share, for a total transaction of C$158,913.75. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 16,792 shares in the company, valued at C$688,639.92. The trade was a 30.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. In the last quarter, insiders sold 155,766 shares of company stock worth $6,525,571. Insiders own 40.45% of the company’s stock.

About Saputo

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.