Saputo (TSE:SAP) Stock Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

by · The Markets Daily

Saputo Inc. (TSE:SAP – Get Free Report)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$37.57 and traded as high as C$42.50. Saputo shares last traded at C$42.47, with a volume of 1,258,612 shares changing hands.

Key Headlines Impacting Saputo

Here are the key news stories impacting Saputo this week:

  • Positive Sentiment: Board declared a quarterly cash dividend of C$0.20 per share (annualized yield ~1.8%). Record date and payment date are both March 13; ex‑dividend date is March 3. The dividend reinforces cash return to shareholders and supports the share price given Saputo’s size and yield.
  • Neutral Sentiment: Multiple outlets report a widespread recall of Great Value (Walmart) cottage cheese across many U.S. states over pasteurization concerns. There is no public link in these reports tying Saputo to the recalled product; however, the recall may modestly dent category demand or prompt retailer sourcing reviews in the near term, which is a sector-level headwind to monitor. Cottage cheese sold at Walmart recalled over pasteurization concern, FDA says Check your cottage cheese: Recall hits 24 states
  • Neutral Sentiment: Operational / fundamentals context: latest quarterly EPS was C$0.57 with revenue ~C$4.89B; the company shows a negative net margin and negative ROE for that quarter, while analysts model ~1.77 EPS for the year. Valuation sits around a P/E of ~28. Investors may be rewarding the dividend and near-term momentum despite mixed profitability metrics.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Saputo from C$47.00 to C$50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Saputo from C$51.00 to C$52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 15th. Desjardins increased their price target on shares of Saputo from C$45.00 to C$47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Saputo from C$47.00 to C$49.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Saputo from C$41.00 to C$42.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$46.25.

View Our Latest Stock Report on SAP

Saputo Stock Up 2.5%

The company has a market cap of C$17.64 billion, a PE ratio of 27.91, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is C$41.63 and its 200-day moving average price is C$37.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 51.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Saputo (TSE:SAP – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported C$0.57 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$4.89 billion for the quarter. Saputo had a negative return on equity of 2.20% and a negative net margin of 0.84%. On average, analysts predict that Saputo Inc. will post 1.7735369 earnings per share for the current year.

Saputo Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Saputo’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Saputo Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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