Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Seneca Foods from “strong buy” to “hold.” Freedom Capital also cut its rating to Hold, while MarketBeat’s consensus remains “Moderate Buy.”
• Seneca Foods reported quarterly EPS of $5.07, beating estimates of $3.82, but revenue of $492.59 million fell short of the $506 million consensus.
• The company announced a 5-for-1 stock split, with shares scheduled to split on November 17.

Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Freedom Capital lowered shares of Seneca Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Seneca Foods from a "buy (a-)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy".

Seneca Foods Price Performance

NASDAQ SENEA opened at $151.04 on Friday. Seneca Foods has a twelve month low of $101.81 and a twelve month high of $210.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 3.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 8.74 and a beta of -0.03.

Seneca Foods's stock is scheduled to split on the morning of Tuesday, November 17th. The 5-1 split was recently announced. The newly created shares will be issued to shareholders after the closing bell on Monday, November 16th.

Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $5.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.82 by $1.25. Seneca Foods had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 14.96%. The business had revenue of $492.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $506.00 million.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Dean Erstad sold 1,587 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.16, for a total transaction of $327,175.92. Following the sale, the vice president owned 609 shares of the company's stock, valued at $125,551.44. This represents a 72.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 8.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Seneca Foods

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Seneca Foods by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 57,470 shares of the company's stock worth $8,685,000 after buying an additional 13,564 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Seneca Foods by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 48,758 shares of the company's stock worth $8,632,000 after acquiring an additional 10,830 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in Seneca Foods in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,808,000. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its holdings in Seneca Foods by 187.7% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 14,085 shares of the company's stock worth $2,450,000 after purchasing an additional 9,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Seneca Foods during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,235,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.51% of the company's stock.

Seneca Foods Company Profile

Seneca Foods Corporation is a U.S.-based food processor and producer of packaged fruits and vegetables. The company supplies retail, food service, industrial and government customers with canned, frozen and prepared foods, including vegetables, fruits, applesauce, snack products and ingredients.

Seneca markets products under brands including Seneca, Libby's, Green Giant, Aunt Nellie's, READ and CherryMan, while also producing private-label goods for retailers and other food companies. Its product portfolio includes canned and frozen vegetables, fruit products, shelf-stable meals and ingredients used by commercial food manufacturers.

Founded in 1949 and headquartered in Marion, New York, Seneca operates processing and distribution facilities primarily in the United States and sources agricultural products from North American growing regions.

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