Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Purchases 13,499 Shares of CPB Inc. $CPF

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in CPB Inc. (NYSE:CPF) by 94.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,499 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in CPB were worth $1,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CPB by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 9,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in CPB by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in CPB by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 44,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,383,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in CPB by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 14,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in CPB by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 15,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.42% of the company’s stock.

CPB Stock Performance

CPF stock opened at $39.10 on Friday. CPB Inc. has a one year low of $27.38 and a one year high of $40.99. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.91.

CPB (NYSE:CPF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $77.45 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.69 million. CPB had a net margin of 22.52% and a return on equity of 14.20%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that CPB Inc. will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CPB Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This is an increase from CPB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. CPB’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Benchmark began coverage on shares of CPB in a report on Thursday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $44.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of CPB from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of CPB from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.33.

CPB Company Profile

Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (NYSE: CPF) is a Thailand‐based integrated agro‐industrial and food conglomerate. Headquartered in Bangkok, the company is a subsidiary of the Charoen Pokphand Group and has grown into one of the world’s leading producers of livestock feed, meat and seafood products. CPF’s businesses span animal feed milling, animal breeding and hatchery operations, meat and seafood processing, and the distribution of fresh, frozen and value‐added food products.

CPF’s product portfolio includes poultry, swine and aquaculture feed; fresh and frozen chicken and pork; shrimp and other seafood; as well as ready‐to‐eat and ready‐to‐cook food items.