Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 14,849 Shares of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ:CALM - Free Report) by 74.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,035 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 14,849 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Cal-Maine Foods were worth $458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CALM. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cal-Maine Foods during the first quarter valued at approximately $527,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Cal-Maine Foods by 8.7% in 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 increased 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 valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cal-Maine Foods during the 4th quarter worth about $1,123,000. 84.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CALM shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Cal-Maine Foods from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Cal-Maine Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on Cal-Maine Foods from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th.

Cal-Maine Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CALM traded up $1.98 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $107.74. 723,761 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,117,815. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $102.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.60. Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.22 and a 12 month high of $126.40. The firm has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a PE ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.19.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.29 by $1.75. The firm had revenue of $1.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $877.03 million. Cal-Maine Foods had a net margin of 28.63% and a return on equity of 54.81%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 72.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cal-Maine Foods, Inc. will post 15.59 EPS for the current year.

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.