Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts: Five covering brokerages give Cal‑Maine a consensus "Hold" (four holds, one buy) with an average 12‑month target of $93, while recent broker actions are mixed (Benchmark buy; BMO cut its target to $80; Stephens at equal weight with $90).
• Q1 results: Cal‑Maine beat estimates with $1.06 EPS vs $0.89 expected and $667M revenue vs $656M expected, but revenue was down 53% year‑over‑year and the company reported a volatile comparison to prior‑year EPS of $10.39.
• Dividend & valuation: The company pays a $0.72 quarterly dividend ($2.88 annualized, 3.7% yield) with a 12.21% payout ratio, and trades at a market cap of $3.72B with a P/E of 5.44.

Shares of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $93.00.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CALM. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Cal-Maine Foods from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on shares of Cal-Maine Foods from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th.

Cal-Maine Foods Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CALM opened at $78.10 on Friday. Cal-Maine Foods has a 12 month low of $71.92 and a 12 month high of $126.40. The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.32. The business's 50 day moving average is $83.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.77.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $666.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $655.82 million. Cal-Maine Foods had a return on equity of 26.05% and a net margin of 20.07%.Cal-Maine Foods's revenue for the quarter was down 53.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $10.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Cal-Maine Foods will post 15.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cal-Maine Foods Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 28th were given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 28th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Cal-Maine Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.21%.

Institutional Trading of Cal-Maine Foods

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 53,608 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,298,000 after purchasing an additional 15,643 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Cal-Maine Foods by 2,173.9% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 11,756 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $935,000 after purchasing an additional 11,239 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors acquired a new stake in Cal-Maine Foods during the fourth quarter worth $397,000. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cal-Maine Foods during the fourth quarter worth $219,000. Finally, Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Cal-Maine Foods in the 4th quarter valued at $71,000. 84.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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. 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.

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