Cal-Maine Foods' (CALM) Buy (B) Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Cal-Maine Foods' stock has been given a "buy (B)" rating by Weiss Ratings, although several other firms have downgraded their ratings or adjusted price targets recently.
• The company's quarterly earnings report showed earnings per share (EPS) of $4.12, missing estimates, but revenue increased by 17.4% compared to the previous year.
• Insider Keira L. Lombardo significantly increased ownership by purchasing 2,800 shares at an average price of $92.36, indicating strong confidence in the company's future.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating restated by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CALM. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cal-Maine Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 23rd. Lake Street Capital set a $97.00 price objective on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Cal-Maine Foods from $105.00 to $97.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Cal-Maine Foods from $110.00 to $98.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Cal-Maine Foods from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cal-Maine Foods has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $101.75.

Cal-Maine Foods Stock Up 0.2%

CALM stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $90.44. 283,058 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 973,734. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.22. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.47. Cal-Maine Foods has a 1 year low of $79.55 and a 1 year high of $126.40.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 1st. The basic materials company reported $4.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.55 by ($0.43). The business had revenue of $922.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $931.62 million. Cal-Maine Foods had a net margin of 28.86% and a return on equity of 52.31%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.06 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cal-Maine Foods will post 15.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cal-Maine Foods

In related news, insider Keira L. Lombardo bought 2,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $92.36 per share, with a total value of $258,608.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 3,738 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $345,241.68. This trade represents a 298.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cal-Maine Foods

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CALM. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Cal-Maine Foods during the third quarter worth about $38,063,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Cal-Maine Foods during the first quarter worth about $35,322,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Cal-Maine Foods by 336.5% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 487,214 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $44,288,000 after acquiring an additional 375,604 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in Cal-Maine Foods by 60.1% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 934,037 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $93,058,000 after acquiring an additional 350,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods by 1,085.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 259,445 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $24,414,000 after purchasing an additional 237,566 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.67% of the company's stock.

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.

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