Caxton Associates LLP Makes New $715,000 Investment in Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. $CALM

Key Points

• Caxton Associates LLP acquired 7,863 shares of Cal-Maine Foods, valued at approximately $715,000, marking a new investment position in the company during the first quarter.
• Cal-Maine Foods reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $7.04, exceeding expectations, while its revenue rose by 72.1% compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend to $3.46, resulting in an annual yield of 12.6%, significantly up from the previous dividend of $1.49.

Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 7,863 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $715,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. purchased a new position in Cal-Maine Foods in the 1st quarter worth approximately $527,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Cal-Maine Foods by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 562,810 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $51,159,000 after buying an additional 45,201 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,071 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,720 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods by 8.2% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,511 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CALM shares. Stephens increased their price objective on Cal-Maine Foods from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Cal-Maine Foods in a report on Thursday, August 14th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Cal-Maine Foods from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Cal-Maine Foods from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $110.00.

Cal-Maine Foods Price Performance

NASDAQ CALM traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $110.64. The stock had a trading volume of 411,190 shares, compared to its average volume of 652,496. The stock has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a PE ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $108.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.23. Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.81 and a 1 year high of $126.40.

Cal-Maine Foods (NASDAQ:CALM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The basic materials company reported $7.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.29 by $1.75. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $877.03 million. Cal-Maine Foods had a return on equity of 54.81% and a net margin of 28.63%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 72.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. will post 15.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Cal-Maine Foods Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $3.46 per share. This represents a $13.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.5%. This is a boost from Cal-Maine Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $1.49. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. Cal-Maine Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.72%.

Cal-Maine Foods Company Profile

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.