Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $93.00.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a report on Monday, January 5th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Cal-Maine Foods from $97.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cal-Maine Foods from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Cal-Maine Foods from $110.00 to $98.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Stephens set a $85.00 target price on shares of Cal-Maine Foods and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cal-Maine Foods

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CALM. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Cal-Maine Foods by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 118,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,451,000 after acquiring an additional 31,826 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Cal-Maine Foods by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 25,542 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,032,000 after purchasing an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Westbourne Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cal-Maine Foods in the 4th quarter worth $350,000. Finally, Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 454.1% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 27,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,204,000 after purchasing an additional 22,703 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.67% of the company’s stock.

Cal-Maine Foods Price Performance

Shares of CALM opened at $80.50 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.26. Cal-Maine Foods has a one year low of $71.92 and a one year high of $126.40.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The basic materials company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.17 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $769.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $828.46 million. Cal-Maine Foods had a return on equity of 44.55% and a net margin of 27.37%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Cal-Maine Foods will post 15.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cal-Maine Foods Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Cal-Maine Foods’s payout ratio is presently 12.13%.

Cal-Maine Foods Company Profile

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. It sells its products to various customers, including national and regional grocery store chains, club stores, independent supermarkets, foodservice distributors, and egg product consumers primarily in the southwestern, southeastern, mid-western, and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.