Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) Short Interest Update

Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,870,000 shares, a decline of 24.1% from the March 15th total of 3,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 627,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.6 days. Approximately 7.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Cal-Maine Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CALM traded down $0.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $60.46. The stock had a trading volume of 589,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 899,325. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 10.72 and a beta of -0.06. Cal-Maine Foods has a one year low of $42.25 and a one year high of $64.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $58.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.67.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The basic materials company reported $3.00 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Cal-Maine Foods will post 4.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Cal-Maine Foods Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This is an increase from Cal-Maine Foods’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.62%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. Cal-Maine Foods’s payout ratio is presently 8.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Letitia Callender Hughes sold 1,020 shares of Cal-Maine Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.73, for a total transaction of $57,864.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,471,726.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Charles Jeff Hardin sold 4,458 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.56, for a total value of $252,144.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,008,464.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Letitia Callender Hughes sold 1,020 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.73, for a total transaction of $57,864.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 43,570 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,726.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,228 shares of company stock valued at $520,122 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.51% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cal-Maine Foods

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CALM. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Cal-Maine Foods by 66.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,375,311 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $136,319,000 after purchasing an additional 947,115 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods during the fourth quarter valued at $47,771,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 748.9% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 790,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,353,000 after acquiring an additional 697,170 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cal-Maine Foods in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,105,000. Finally, Man Group plc lifted its position in Cal-Maine Foods by 3,503.9% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 508,724 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,700,000 after purchasing an additional 494,608 shares during the last quarter. 84.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

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.