Saputo gains from acquisitions

Article Excerpt

SAPUTO INC. $46 (Toronto symbol SAP; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 204.6 million; Market cap: $9.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.6; Dividend yield: 1.4%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.saputo.com) continues to use acquisitions to expand its dairy operations. Since it became a public company in 1997, it has spent roughly $2.8 billion buying related firms. Expanding by acquisition adds risk. However, Saputo usually buys smaller dairy companies that it can easily integrate with its existing operations. The company is now Canada’s largest producer of dairy products, including milk, butter and cheese. Its main brands include Neilson, Stella and Dairyland. Saputo also has operations in the U.S., Argentina and Europe. Dairy products account for 97% of Saputo’s sales. The remaining 3% comes from snack cakes and tarts. U.S. is a prime target for Saputo Buying opportunities in Canada’s dairy industry are limited, so Saputo tends to focus on acquisitions outside of Canada. For example, it recently paid $270.5 million U.S. for DCI Cheese Co…