Stephens Initiates Coverage on Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM)

Analysts at Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, StockNewsAPI reports. The firm set an “equal weight” rating and a $82.00 price target on the basic materials company’s stock. Stephens’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 8.74% from the company’s current price.

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Cal-Maine Foods from $47.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th.

Cal-Maine Foods Trading Down 1.9 %

CALM opened at $75.41 on Thursday. Cal-Maine Foods has a 1-year low of $42.25 and a 1-year high of $77.11. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.14. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37 and a beta of -0.10.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The basic materials company reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.36 by ($0.30). Cal-Maine Foods had a net margin of 11.94% and a return on equity of 16.46%. The business had revenue of $785.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $704.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 71.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Insider Activity at Cal-Maine Foods

In other news, COO Michael Todd Walters sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.20, for a total transaction of $210,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,310 shares in the company, valued at $372,762. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Cal-Maine Foods news, COO Michael Todd Walters sold 3,000 shares of Cal-Maine Foods stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.20, for a total value of $210,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,310 shares in the company, valued at $372,762. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James E. Poole sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.65, for a total value of $105,975.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,510.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,000 shares of company stock valued at $422,970 over the last ninety days. 13.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Garner Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 20,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cal-Maine Foods by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,404 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Cal-Maine Foods by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 11,765 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cal-Maine Foods by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 5,554 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 73.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.67% of the company’s stock.

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.