196,800 Shares in Tyson Foods, Inc. $TSN Purchased by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems acquired 196,800 Tyson Foods shares worth approximately $11.3 million in the second quarter, while institutional investors collectively own 67% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment is cautious: Tyson has an average “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $69.44, with several firms recently lowering ratings or price targets.
• Tyson reported quarterly EPS of $0.99, matching estimates, but revenue of $13.87 billion fell short of expectations. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share, representing a 3.9% annualized yield.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 196,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,267,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned about 0.06% of Tyson Foods as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Tyson Foods by 5.2% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,282,438 shares of the company's stock worth $82,166,000 after purchasing an additional 63,885 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Tyson Foods by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 15,310,513 shares of the company's stock worth $897,502,000 after buying an additional 1,480,987 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Tyson Foods by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 830,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,223,000 after buying an additional 47,900 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of Tyson Foods by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 621,639 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,589,000 after buying an additional 59,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in Tyson Foods by 252.8% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 66,763 shares of the company's stock worth $4,278,000 after acquiring an additional 47,841 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on TSN. Zacks Research downgraded Tyson Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings cut Tyson Foods from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Tyson Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. HSBC reduced their price objective on Tyson Foods from $74.00 to $69.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Tyson Foods from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $69.44.

Tyson Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TSN opened at $52.32 on Wednesday. Tyson Foods, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.56 and a 12-month high of $69.48. The company has a market cap of $18.41 billion, a PE ratio of 32.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.99. Tyson Foods had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 1.03%.The firm had revenue of $13.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. The firm's revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Tyson Foods, Inc. will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

Tyson Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st. Tyson Foods's payout ratio is currently 125.93%.

About Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods, Inc NYSE: TSN is a multinational food company primarily engaged in the production, processing and marketing of protein-based and prepared food products. Founded in 1935 and headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, the company is one of the world's largest processors of chicken, beef and pork. Its operations span live animal procurement and farming relationships through slaughter, further processing and distribution, supplying raw protein and value-added prepared foods to retail, foodservice and industrial customers.

The company's product portfolio covers fresh and frozen meats, branded and private-label prepared foods, and a range of value-added items such as ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook meals, snack and sandwich meats.

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