Daily Stock Opinions and Ratings

Opinions

Steve DiGregorioMaple Leaf FoodsMFI.TOTOP PICKOct 18, 2016

(A little worried about the markets in the short term, and wants to give viewers some things that won’t have too much downside if the market trades down.) There is some upside in this in the short term in the next two quarters. They spent a lot of money over the last couple of years on plant optimization, so he expects margins to expand on that. At the same time, lean hog pricing has been cut in half and decimated, which will help margins for the next two quarters. Pristine balance sheet which would allow them to do an acquisition or buy back stock. Fundamentally, financially and technically he likes it, and can see it as an easy $34-$35 stock. 1.15% yield is a little bit small for a traditional dividend investor, so you can Sell a $34 covered call out to January, which will give you an extra 2%, plus a 9% upside in the stock price.

Steve DiGregorio

Owned

Unlock Rating

$31.26

Stock price when the opinion was issued

$31.54

As of Jun 19, 2026. Market Open.

food processing

It's the ideal tool to help you make quicker, more informed decisions for managing and tracking your investments.

Get Signals Create your Watchlist

Wealthica Track your Stocks in your Watch List

You might be interested:

DON'T BUY

Meat processing business that relied on M&A in the past. Experiencing additional costs with inflation etc. People trading down to lower cost proteins. Does not own shares. Plant based protein business also suffering.

BUY

Holds it in high regard. Divested and modernized. Expansion into non-meat protein. Earnings are cyclically depressed. Not a barn burner of a growth stock. GDP-esque growth rate. Put in your RRSP. Will do well in the long-term.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Mar 17/20, Down 6%) Plant-based area has earned a lot of attention. Unfairly penalized for the slower ramp up of meat alternatives. Trades at only 7x EBITDA, without the plant-based component. If the plant-based sector was spun out, share price would easily be over $40. Be patient, a ton of value, core business is strong.

DON'T BUY

Market didn't like its earnings, and so it's down today. Stumbling. Right sector, but not producing results fast enough for investors. Took on huge debt to expand. Sometimes it's better not to buy a company at the beginning of huge capex. Stay away right now.

TOP PICK

Meat segment has been doing well. Plant segment is a new and emerging area, and is #2 in NA. Trades at a significant discount to peers. Could easily be worth more than $40 a share. Yield is 2.62%. (Analysts’ price target is $35.19)

BUY ON WEAKNESS

Billy Kawasaki’s Insights - Billy’s most-liked answers from 5i Research. The stock has shown some weakness recently, but there has been no negative news. The stock is still up year to date and ahead of the tsx average. Unlock Premium - Try 5i Free

BUY

A solid long term hold. You might need to have patience, as they are investing their cashflow into plant based alternative foods that have good long term potential. However, short-term it does not lead to the profitability investors are looking for. Long term dynamics look good once they realize their investment benefits. A defensive stock since people need to eat regardless of the pandemic.

BUY ON WEAKNESS

He has a $24.78 model price -- about 20% downward price risk. He is recommending going into the US. He would need to see a sizable pullback in price to consider buying.

COMMENT

vs. Loblaw Has exposure to commodity prices so it is a little cyclical. Loblaw is slow growth but stable. MFI is probably getting hit by the coronavirus, but investing in plant-based protein which is promising. He wants to see how this plays out before investing.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Feb 05/19, Down 12%) It dropped this past fall over one issue. They have been aggressively expanding into plant based protein. He still holds it and thinks it is very miss-priced. He added to his position last fall. He thinks it will take time for investors to re-price this stock.

BUY

3-year hold? Pays a good yield. They're trying to grow through technology and shifting from animal protein to plant--but all this costs a lot of money. They doubled their EBITDA margins from 2006-on, but are trying to reduce those margins. With their strong brand, they could develop some fine plant-based products. A good opportunity here.

WATCH

They bought a fake meat investment. They were also hurt on the Chinese tariffs on pork and beef. Investors hopes in fake meat seem to be disappearing. Like cannabis, this is the first inning of new market forming. We just don't know who will be the winners. China has made positive moves on taking more Canadian pork.

COMMENT

IPL vs MFI? Maple Leaf foods dividend is 2.2%, well below that of IPL. He has not assessed the MFI earnings miss announced today. He would want to see how things settle out -- three days to let it rebalance. IPL had a big jump about an month ago about a potential takeout bid. IPL has a solid dividend and they are diversifying into other activities and into new pipeline projects, which should allow dividend increases. He would favour IPL.

DON'T BUY

The last number of months these food companies have been talking about plant-based proteins. Their traditional business has been under pressure for the last couple of years. It is hard to see where growth comes from. They still have an unresolved issue related to bread pricing. Short sellers are coming out against the company.

WATCH

If it breaks above $35, he would add exposure, and it should continue upward. Their recent plant-based protein announcement pushed up the stock.

Most Recent Experts

Stockchase Insights

5i Research

Brian Acker, CA

Acker Finley Inc.

The Weekly Buzzing Stocks by Billy Kawasaki

Stockchase

David Burrows

Barometer Capital Management

Jim Cramer - Mad Money

CNBC

Stockchase, in its reporting on what has been discussed by individuals on business television programs (in particular Business News Network), neither recommends nor promotes any investment strategies.

We paraphrase the experts by hand, we watch the shows and write down what we understood from the experts’ comments. We are human and can make mistakes, help us fix any errors. If you see something that you know is not right or if there is a problem with the site, feel free to email us at : [email protected].

Summer Sale

Steve DiGregorioMaple Leaf FoodsMFI.TOTOP PICKOct 18, 2016

You might be interested:

Maple Leaf Foods(MFI.TO)

Maple Leaf Foods(MFI.TO)

Maple Leaf Foods(MFI.TO)

Maple Leaf Foods(MFI.TO)

Maple Leaf Foods(MFI.TO)

Maple Leaf Foods(MFI.TO)

Maple Leaf Foods(MFI.TO)

Maple Leaf Foods(MFI.TO)

Maple Leaf Foods(MFI.TO)

Maple Leaf Foods(MFI.TO)

Maple Leaf Foods(MFI.TO)

Maple Leaf Foods(MFI.TO)

Maple Leaf Foods(MFI.TO)

Maple Leaf Foods(MFI.TO)

Maple Leaf Foods(MFI.TO)

Latest Buy Signals

Today's Top Picks

Popular Articles

Latest Sell Signals

Most Recent Experts

Stockchase Insights

Brian Acker, CA

The Weekly Buzzing Stocks by Billy Kawasaki

David Burrows

Jim Cramer - Mad Money