Saputo (TSE:SAP) Lowered to “Market Perform” at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Saputo (TSE:SAP) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has C$30.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of C$35.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on SAP. CIBC dropped their target price on Saputo from C$37.00 to C$35.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. National Bankshares lowered their price objective on shares of Saputo from C$36.00 to C$35.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Saputo currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of C$34.79.

Saputo Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of TSE:SAP opened at C$27.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of C$29.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$28.93. Saputo has a 52 week low of C$25.28 and a 52 week high of C$32.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 53.17, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of C$11.82 billion, a PE ratio of 44.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 0.32.

Saputo (TSE:SAP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported C$0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.37 by C$0.02. The company had revenue of C$4.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$4.44 billion. Saputo had a return on equity of 3.72% and a net margin of 1.50%. As a group, research analysts expect that Saputo will post 1.7806854 earnings per share for the current year.

Saputo Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 10th. This is a positive change from Saputo’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Saputo’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 120.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Saputo news, Senior Officer Martin Gagnon acquired 2,000 shares of Saputo stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$29.73 per share, with a total value of C$59,450.00. In related news, Senior Officer Martin Gagnon bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$29.73 per share, for a total transaction of C$59,450.00. Also, Senior Officer Carl Colizza purchased 6,800 shares of Saputo stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$29.43 per share, with a total value of C$200,124.00. Insiders own 42.57% of the company’s stock.

Saputo Company Profile

Saputo Inc produces, markets, and distributes dairy products in Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The company offers cheeses, including mozzarella and cheddar; specialty cheeses, such as ricotta, provolone, blue, parmesan, goat cheese, feta, romano, and havarti; fine cheeses comprising brie and camembert; and other cheeses that include brick, colby, farmer, munster, monterey jack, fresh curd, and processed cheeses.