High Liner Foods

Sound bite for Twitter and StockTwits is: Probably reasonable. By the dividend yield testing the stock price seems better than it has been over the past 5 years, but not over the past 10 years. It is a dividend growth stock I would consider buying when looking at ay consumer stock to buy. See my spreadsheet on High Liner Foods.

I do not own this stock of High Liner Foods (TSX-HLF, OTC-HLNFF). This is a stock liked by the Investment Reporter and is considered to be of average risk. The MPL Communication's site is here. Ryan Irvine of Keystone also likes this company.

Dividend is low to moderate. The dividend growth is moderate to good. The current dividend yield is 2.04% and the 5 year median dividend yield with 1.82% with a historical dividend yield at 2.15%. The dividends have grown at 23% and 16.6% per year over the past 5 and 10 years. The last dividend raise was this year and it was for 8.3%.

I believe that they can afford the dividends. The Dividend Payout Ratio for the 2015 financial year is at 35% for EPS and 15% for CFPS. The 5 year median DPR is at 35% for DPS and 13% for CFPS.

If you had purchased this stock some 5, 10 or 15 years ago, you would be making a dividend yield on your original purchase price of 6.7%, 11% or 21%. If you had purchased this stock 5, 10 or 15 years ago, dividends would have covered your purchase price of 26%, 57% or 123%.

On a relative basis they have lots of debt. The Long Term Debt to Market Cap is at the end of 2015 was 0.81, but has fallen to 0.63 in the second quarter. Still the Leverage and Debt/Equity Ratio for 2015 are relatively high for a Consumer Discretionary Stock at 3.46 and 2.46 and even the lower ones at the end of second quarter at 3.00 and 2.00 are a bit high for a Consumer Discretionary stock.

The Liquidity Ratio is good at 2.34 for the 2015 financial year. The Debt Ratio is a bit low at 1.41 for the 2015 financial year. I prefer both these to be at or above 1.50 for safety's sake.

I have 5 year low, median and high median Price/Earnings per Share ratios of 13.92, 18.32 and 22.39. The corresponding 10 year values are 12.75, 15.44 and 19.28. The historical values are 8.35, 10.65 and 13.15 and a quite a bit lower. The current P/E Ratio is 11.51 based on a stock price of $25.51 and 2016 EPS estimates of $1.70 US$ or 2.22 CDN$. This stock price testing suggests that the stock price is relatively reasonable and around or below the median.

I get a Graham Price of $21.25. The 10 year low, median and high median Price/Graham Price Ratios are 0.78, 1.04 and 1.24. The current P/GP Ratio is 1.20 based on a stock price of $25.51. This stock price testing suggests that the stock price is relatively reasonable below the median.

I get a 10 year median Price/Book Value per Share Ratio of 1.38. The current P/B Ratio is 2.82, a value some 104% higher. The P/B Ratio is based on a stock price of $25.51 and BVPS of $9.06. This stock price testing suggests that the stock price is relatively expensive.

The historical dividend yield is 2.15% and the current dividend yield is 2.04% based on dividends of $0.52 and a stock price of $25.51. The current yield is some 5.2% below the historical median and this suggests that the stock price is reasonable but above the median. The 5 year median dividend yield is 1.82% and the current dividend yield at 2.04% and some 11.8% above the 5 year median. This testing suggests that the stock price is relatively reasonable and below the 5 year median.

When I look at analysts' recommendations, I find Buy and Hold recommendations. The consensus would be a Buy. The 12 months stock price consensus stock price is $22.33. This is lower than the current stock price of $25.51 and would imply a total loss of 10.43% with 2.04% from dividends and 12.47% from a capital loss.

There is a number of stories about Blue Harvest Fisheries buying High Liner Foods' scallop business and processing facility in New Bedford, MA. This is one of the articles. There is a News Wire item for this company's second quarter of 2016. It points out that for the purposes of calculating financial ratios, including dividend payout and share price-to-earnings ratios, to take into consideration that the Company's share price and dividend rate are reported in CAD and its earnings and financial position are reported in USD. This article by Teresa Graham on The Cerbat Gem talks about Royal Bank increasing their target price on this company.

I will have only one entry for this stock this year. However, I did a more complete report on this company in 2015 and you can see that report here.

The last stock I wrote about was about was ATCO Ltd. (TSX-ACO.X, OTC- ACLLF)... learn more . The next stock I will write about will be Smart REIT (TSX-SRU.UN, OTC-CWYUF)... learn more on Friday, September 16, 2016around 5 pm. Tomorrow on my other blog I will write about Going to ETFs... learn more on Thursday, September 15, 2016 around 5 pm.

High Liner Foods is the leading North American processor and marketer of value-added frozen seafood. Their retail branded products are sold throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico and are available in most grocery and club stores. They also sell their branded products to restaurants and institutions and they are the major supplier of private label value-added frozen seafood products to North American food retailers and food service distributors. Its web site is here High Liner Foods.

This blog is meant for educational purposes only, and is not to provide investment advice. Before making any investment decision, you should always do your own research or consult an investment professional. I do research for my own edification and I am willing to share. I write what I think and I may or may not be correct.

See my website for stocks followed and investment notes. I have three blogs. The first talks only about specific stocks and is called Investment Talk. The second one contains information on mostly investing and is called Investing Economics Mostly. My last blog is for my book reviews and it is called Non-Fiction Mostly. Follow me on Twitter or StockTwits.