Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA) Stock Rating Raised to Buy at Freedom Broker

Key Points

• Freedom Broker upgraded Seneca Foods to Buy from Hold and set a $202 price target, implying about 22% upside from the stock’s reported price. MarketBeat’s consensus rating is Moderate Buy.
• Seneca Foods reported quarterly earnings of $5.07 per share, beating the $3.82 consensus estimate, while revenue of $492.59 million fell short of expectations of $506 million.
• The company announced a 5-for-1 stock split, with shares scheduled to split on November 17; the new shares are payable after the market closes November 16.

Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at Freedom Broker from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Monday, FinViz reports. The brokerage presently has a $202.00 target price on the stock. Freedom Broker's target price would suggest a potential upside of 22.08% from the company's current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Freedom Capital cut 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 research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Seneca Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Seneca Foods currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $202.00.

Seneca Foods Price Performance

SENEA stock traded up $14.43 during trading on Monday, hitting $165.47. The company had a trading volume of 8,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 103,306. The business has a 50 day moving average of $176.52 and a 200 day moving average of $157.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.61 and a beta of -0.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Seneca Foods has a fifty-two week low of $105.05 and a fifty-two week high of $210.00.

Shares of Seneca Foods are scheduled to split on the morning of Tuesday, November 17th. The 5-1 split was recently announced. The newly issued shares will be payable to shareholders after the market closes on Monday, November 16th.

Seneca Foods (NASDAQ:SENEA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $5.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.82 by $1.25. Seneca Foods had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 15.73%. The firm had revenue of $492.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $506.00 million.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Dean Erstad sold 1,587 shares of Seneca Foods stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.16, for a total transaction of $327,175.92. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 609 shares of the company's stock, valued at $125,551.44. The trade was a 72.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 8.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Seneca Foods

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Seneca Foods by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 57,470 shares of the company's stock worth $8,685,000 after purchasing an additional 13,564 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Seneca Foods by 28.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 48,758 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,632,000 after purchasing an additional 10,830 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Seneca Foods by 8.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 31,394 shares of the company's stock worth $4,744,000 after buying an additional 2,354 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Seneca Foods by 3.8% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 22,594 shares of the company's stock worth $4,022,000 after buying an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Seneca Foods by 0.7% during the third quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 20,242 shares of the company's stock worth $3,603,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 42.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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