Healthier foods to boost earnings

Article Excerpt

MAPLE LEAF FOODS INC. $34 (Toronto symbol MFI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 126.4 million; Market cap: $4.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.2; Dividend yield: 1.5%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mapleleaffoods.com) sells Maple Leaf and Schneider fresh and prepared meats. The company continues to improve the quality of its products. That mainly involves removing chemicals, colours, sweeteners and preservatives. As part of that plan, Maple Leaf is now buying two poultry farms, one in Ontario and one in Quebec, from Cericola Farms. That firm specializes in raising chickens without antibiotics. Separately, Maple Leaf has also agreed to acquire 100% of the processed chicken volume from Cericola’s main processing plant in Schomberg, Ontario. The company has an option to acquire this facility in three years. The company has not yet revealed the cost of those purchases. However, Cericola’s products will help Maple Leaf profit as consumers continue to opt for healthier foods. However, the stock trades at a somewhat high 22.5 times the $1.51 a share…