Cascades (TSE:CAS) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Cascades Inc. (TSE:CAS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$13.95 and last traded at C$13.94, with a volume of 176921 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$13.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Cascades from C$14.00 to C$16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Cascades from C$12.00 to C$14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. National Bank Financial raised their target price on shares of Cascades from C$12.00 to C$15.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price target on shares of Cascades from C$12.00 to C$13.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Cascades from C$13.50 to C$16.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$14.58.

Cascades Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of C$1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 69.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 121.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is C$12.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$11.32.

Cascades (TSE:CAS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported C$0.38 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$1.24 billion for the quarter. Cascades had a negative net margin of 1.62% and a negative return on equity of 4.35%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cascades Inc. will post 1.2959309 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cascades Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 4th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 20th. Cascades’s dividend payout ratio is 240.00%.

About Cascades

Cascades Inc, along with its subsidiaries, produces, converts and markets packaging and tissue products composed mainly of recycled fibres. The company is organized into four main business segments: Containerboard, Boxboard Europe, Specialty Products (which constitutes packaging products), and Tissue Papers. The business activity of the company functions in Canada, the United States, Italy, and other countries. Its customer base includes food processing companies, the maintenance industry, accommodations, and housing industry, micro-businesses, and boutiques.