Maple Leaf Foods (TSX:MFI) recently had reason to celebrate when China lifted a ban on Canadian meat imports. China is the largest consumer of pork on the planet, and it is a key market for a company like Maple Leaf.
Unfortunately, Maple Leaf founds itself tangled in another political affair that was far removed from the ongoing trade war.
Tensions erupted between the United States and Iran earlier this month after the U.S. assassinated a top Iranian general. Iran responded with a ballistic missile strike on joint Iraqi-U.S. bases, and it mistakenly downed a Boeing passenger plane in its own airspace. This resulted in the deaths of 176 people, 57 of whom were Canadians.
Michael McCain, Maple Leaf CEO, criticized U.S. President Donald Trump on Twitter for inflaming tensions in the region. This was personal for McCain as one of his colleagues lost his wife and family in the tragedy.
There were murmurs of a U.S.-backed boycott of Maple Leaf on social media, but investors will know by now to take this kind of noise with a grain of salt.
The company is set to release its fourth-quarter and full-year results for 2019 in late February. Maple Leaf has had to contend with challenging market conditions in select meat protein sectors. However, its plant protein group has continued to demonstrate impressive growth. The stock offers a quarterly dividend of $0.145 per share, representing a 2.3% yield.
Challenges aside, I love Maple Leaf’s foray into plant-based proteins and expect that this gambit will pay off nicely in the years to come. Long-term investors should consider adding Maple Leaf near a 52-week low ahead of its next earnings report.
