Cal-Maine Foods’ (CALM) “Equal Weight” Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens restated their equal weight rating on shares of Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $65.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock.

Cal-Maine Foods Stock Performance

Cal-Maine Foods stock opened at $62.90 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.17. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15 and a beta of -0.06. Cal-Maine Foods has a fifty-two week low of $42.25 and a fifty-two week high of $64.76.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.55. Cal-Maine Foods had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 16.79%. The firm had revenue of $703.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $692.35 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 29.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Cal-Maine Foods will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Cal-Maine Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.36%. This is an increase from Cal-Maine Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Cal-Maine Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James E. Poole sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 11,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $652,469.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Cal-Maine Foods news, Director Letitia Callender Hughes sold 1,020 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.73, for a total value of $57,864.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,726.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James E. Poole sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.91, for a total transaction of $167,730.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,670 shares in the company, valued at $652,469.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 9,228 shares of company stock valued at $520,122. Company insiders own 13.51% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cal-Maine Foods

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in Cal-Maine Foods in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Cal-Maine Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Byrne Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cal-Maine Foods in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Cal-Maine Foods in the first quarter valued at approximately $364,000. 84.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Cal-Maine Foods

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, produces, grades, packages, markets, and distributes shell eggs. The company offers specialty shell eggs, such as nutritionally enhanced, cage free, organic, free-range, pasture-raised, and brown eggs under the Egg-Land's Best, Land O' Lakes, Farmhouse Eggs, Sunups, Sunny Meadow, and 4Grain brand names.